Naruto's Guardian Angel
by TTraveler10
Summary: Naruto has been alone for all of his life. But when a group of villagers attack him, and he cries for help, the son of one of the Charmed Ones arrives to help him. For the first time in his life, Naruto has a friend, but more than that, he may even find a family. No pairing at all really... Rated T for violence, just to be on the safe side. OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Charmed. If I did, Prue would have come back, and Sakura would either have died, retired as a ninja, or stop being so useless.**

**A/N: Matthew is an OC. In this universe, Piper had twins instead of just Wyatt, with Matthew being his younger fraternal twin by five minutes. See my profile to see his powers and more of his story**

Naruto ran as fast as he could. He could hear the sound of the villagers' footsteps as they chased after him, shouting at him and promising pain.

_I didn't do anything! Why are they always chasing me?_ Naruto thought to himself as he rounded a corner. Unfortunately, he ran right into a dead-end.

"Someone help me!" Naruto shouted desperately, as he searched frantically for an escape.

#####################################################################################################

Matthew Halliwell was sitting in his living room with his brothers Chris and Wyatt watching television when he heard what sounded like a voice.

_Someone help me!_

"Who's there?!" Matthew shouted, standing up quickly. Wyatt and Chris stood up as well, everyone scanning the room, expecting a demon attack. Not seeing anything, Matthew uses his telepathy and scans the room.

"I don't sense anyone, but I could've sworn I heard a-OWWW!" Matthew shouts, dropping to his knees.

"Matt/Matty!" Wyatt and Chris shout as they rush over to him. They see he is holding his head, and a large lump is forming. Wyatt quickly tries to heal it, but nothing happens.

"Mom, Dad, come quick! Matt is hurt!" Wyatt yells as Piper and Leo run in.

"What happened?" Piper asks as she cradles Matt's head.

"We don't know. One minute we were just sitting here, then he claims he heard a voice. Next thing we know, it's as if he was hit with a brick, but Wyatt can't heal it." Chris explains quickly.

"Heard a voice…." Leo mumbles, "Matt? Matthew! Listen! Was it a voice asking for help, or in pain?"

"Y-yeah, he sounded really scared and a- AAAHH!" Matthew screams as bruises appear on his arms and legs, and his shirt becomes blood-stained.

"Leo, what's happening to him?" Piper asks worriedly.

"He has a new charge, one that is obviously getting seriously hurt. Matthew quick, follow his call, you have to help him!"

Nodding, Matthew orbs out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own Naruto or Charmed**

When Matthew orbed in, the first thing he noticed was a small child surrounded by a group of angry people.

"Hey, what do you clowns think you're doing?!" he shouts at them.

"We're killing the demon of course!" one man yells over. This was met by cheers from the other adults. They part and let Matthew see a child, no more than eight years old, lying on the ground barely conscious. He had the exact same injuries as Matthew did, which told him that this boy was his charge, but that wasn't what convinced Matthew of this boy's innocence.

It was his eyes.

His eyes showed deep pain, pain like Matthew had never seen before. He knew instantly that this child was no demon; no demon Matthew had ever seen could show pain as deep as that. Matthew quickly did a scan of the child's surface memories and what he saw made his blood boil. This child, this _innocent_ child had been alone, attacked, bullied, isolated, and starved, and for what reason, Matthew could not see. But he could see one thing very clearly.

He had an innocent to protect.

"Get away from him," Matthew snarled at the villagers, "this child has done you no harm."

"This demon brat nearly wiped out our village! Besides, it's not like you could do much about it." The man from earlier sneered. Matthew took on a dangerous look.

"Watch me"

Matthew orbed over next to Naruto, causing a gasp to go up from the villagers. They recovered though and started shouting at him for protecting the demon.

"Oh _yeah_, pick on a poor defenseless _kid_, and _he's _the demon" Matthew retorted, voice dripping with sarcasm. With a squint of his eyes, and a wave of his hand, all of the villagers were flaying away from him. One of them threw another brick, which Matthew quickly blew up. Suddenly, another voice rang across the alley.

"What's going on over here?" A Leaf ninja asked as he saw all of the villagers on the ground.

"That brat is protecting the demon!" One of the villagers shouts, "He somehow teleported, and then sent us flying!"

"Oh, so you are a ninja then," the Leaf ninja said, "but why are you protecting that filth?"

"Okay, first off, I'm a witch, not a ninja," Matthew retorted, "and secondly I've been facing demons since I was 10. This is just a kid."

"Fine then, I'll just have to take care of both of you!" the ninja shouts, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

As the huge ball of fire gets closer to Matthew and Naruto, Matthew forms his grass-green shield around the two, just as another voice rings out

"STOP!"

_Okay then_, Matthew thinks as he freezes the entire alley. He then unfreezes Naruto, and looks to see who the newcomer is.

Walking over to him, he unfreezes just the head.

"Who are you?" Matthew asks

"I could ask you the same question my dear boy, I have never seen you in my village before." He replies

"I came here because my charge called out to me." Matthew explains as he crosses his arms over his chest, "As I got here, _they,_" pointing to the villagers, "were attacking him, and were planning on killing him. Now then, I answered your question, you answer mine"

"I am the Hokage of this village, and I came because I saw the fire," he says as he points to the fireball that is still frozen, "although, you seem to be in control. May I ask your name, and what jutsu you used to freeze everything, and if you could kindly unfreeze me?"

"Hang on, _**For those who want the truth revealed, Opened hearts and secrets unsealed, reveal to me your true opinion, before I blast you into oblivion**_." Matthew chanted. After watching the light fade into the Hokage, he asked, "what is your name, and do you wish Naruto any harm?"

"My name is Hiruzen Sarutobi, and I would never think about hurting Naruto." The Hokage states.

"Very well, _**Guided spirits hear my plea, annul this magic, let it be**_." Matthew chants. After reversing the spell, Matthew answers the Hokage's question, "My name is Matthew Halliwell, and I didn't use a jutsu, I used magic."

"Magic?" The Hokage asks, shocked.

"Yes, magic. I am one of the most powerful witches that walk the earth. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to tend to my charge." Matthew replies before walking over to Naruto and begins to heal him. Naruto, however, gets scared and flinches away.

"Shhh, I promise I will never hurt you." Matthew says soothingly as he finishes healing Naruto. He also notices that his own wounds heal back up.

"Th-thank you," Naruto says before hugging the older boy. Matthew picks him up and walks back over to Hiruzen.

"I'll leave you to deal with them," Matthew says as he orbs out, unfreezing the group of civilians and the ninja as he does so.

"L-lord Hokage!" one of the civilians stutters out before the Hokage has them all arrested and banished from the village.

################################################## ###################################

Matthew orbs into Naruto's apartment and put Naruto onto the bed.

"What is your name?" Naruto asks.

"Matthew, Matthew Halliwell," Matthew says as he smiles at the young boy. "And Naruto, how old are you exactly?"

"I'm 10"

"Wow, you must be big and strong!" Matthew says, while inside he is seething. _10! That's the same age as Chris! He looks barely eight!_

"Well Naruto, it's been fan_tastic_ meeting you, but I have to leave now, okay?" Matthew asks, concerned.

"W-wait, don't go, I don't want to be by myself again!" Naruto begs, as he clings to Matthew.

Matthew hugs Naruto tightly, "Naruto listen to me. You. Will. Never. Be. Alone. If at any time you need me, just call my name okay? For anything, and I will be there, all right?" At Naruto's nod, Matthew gets up. _Mom's gonna hate this_, he thinks as he orbs out.

**A/N: I'm really sorry for any mistakes I made, but this is my first fanfiction. I'm going to try to post quickly, but right now I'm on spring break, so it might be less frequent when school starts up again. Don't worry though; I'm **_**never**_** going to abandon this story. See ya!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: The author does not in any way, shape, or form own Charmed or Naruto. I do however, own the storyline, and my OC.**

Words

Jutsu

_**Spells**_

_Thoughts/emphasis/sarcasm_

**A/N: Oh, and just so you know, Matthew is not the same Matthew seen at the end of Forever Charmed. He is totally different. Now then….**

Matthew orbed back into the Manor to see his entire family, including his Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige, sitting in the living room waiting for him.

"Umm, hi?"

"So, how'd it go honey?" his Aunt Phoebe asked excitedly, "Did you save him? Or was it a girl? Or was it a _pretty_ girl?"

"Um, no Aunt Phoebe, it was a ten year old boy," Matthew replied, giving his aunt a weird look.

"Ten years old? Isn't that a little young? And what would demons want with a ten year old?" Piper asks her middle child. Seeing him hesitate, she continues, "Well, at least you saved him right? I mean, your injuries are all gone."

"Well, you guys might want to sit down. And mom, you may want to sit on your hands so we don't lose _another_ television set," Matthew replies nervously.

"Why? Sweetie what happened?" Piper asks worriedly, as she and the rest of the family sit down.

"Nothing _happened_, but I'm concerned on what _has_ been happening to him."

"Bro, just spit it out already, cut the cryptic crap. You're starting to sound like Chris!" Wyatt demands, earning an indignant "hey" from Chris.

"Alright fine. When I got there, I saw a crowd of people standing over an eight year old child. They were beating him, threatening to kill him, and calling him a demon." Matthew begins to explain.

"So you went over and vanquished him right?" Wyatt interrupts.

"No Wyatt I didn't, now don't interrupt, or I will freeze your mouth," Matthew says while glaring at Wyatt, "Anyway, I look into the child's eyes, and I just see pain, deep pain. So I do a quick scan of his mind and see that he has been bullied, attacked, and almost starved all of his life, but for what reason, I couldn't see. Obviously, the child, whose name is Naruto, had no idea why they were attacking him either, so I orbed over to _deal_ with those monsters." Matthew tells them about his dealing with the ninja, and the arrival of the Hokage.

"Ninja? Jutsu? Hokage?" Leo muses aloud, "Hmm, I think I know where you were"

"Huh? Where dad? 'Cause it didn't seem like they knew magic, but the guy was breathing fire!" Matthew exclaims.

"It's simple. Near Japan, but sealed off from the rest of the world by powerful illusions, are the Elemental Countries. There they use abilities that are similar to magic to do jutsu, or secret techniques." Leo explains, "Your charge may have been a ninja in training. How old was he again?"

"He looked about eight, but Naruto told me he was ten-" Matthew was cut off by Piper who couldn't control herself anymore.

"WHAT?! YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT THOSE MONSTERS HAVE BEEN ABUSING AN INNOCENT BOY WHO HAS NO IDEA WHAT HE HAS DONE WRONG?! OH THAT IS IT! WE ARE GOING OVER THERE AND VANQUISHING EVERY SCUM-BAG WHO THOUGHT THEY COULD GET AWAY WITH THAT!" she screeches. Unknown to the Charmed Ones, every demon in the Underworld wet themselves without a clue why.

"Honey, we can't go over there," Leo said, trying to calm down his wife, "Only Matthew can go because Naruto is his charge."

"Still," Paige says, "we have to do something about it."

"I told him to call me whenever he needs help," Matthew says, "Don't worry, I will keep him safe."

#####################################################################################

Meanwhile in Naruto's apartment….

"Wow," Naruto says as he stares at the place Matthew vanished, "He was so strong! Maybe even stronger than the Old Man!"

Yawning, Naruto drifts off to sleep with thoughts of his new friend.

The next morning, Naruto woke up, had breakfast, and got dressed for his day at the Academy. Walking into the building, Naruto saw Sasuke surrounded by a group of fan-girls. Ignoring him for now, Naruto sat in the back of the room in the corner. Soon enough Iruka-sensei walked in and began class.

"Okay class, today we will be going outside to practice our shuriken-throwing," Iruka informed them before leading the class outside.

"Okay, Sasuke, why don't you go first?" Iruka asked after they stopped at the practice field.

"Hn" was the reply Iruka got from Sasuke before he threw all shuriken flawlessly into each target. Sakura and Ino started screaming about how amazing Sasuke was, but Naruto wasn't impressed.

"Please, I've seen a kid who is _way_ stronger than Sasuke!" Naruto shouted.

"SHUT UP YOU IDIOT, SASUKE IS THE BEST!" Sakura screamed before punching him in the head. Naruto however, was unfazed.

"Nu-uh, this guy could throw them all flawlessly, _but without touching them_!" Naruto announced.

"Hn. Well come on then loser, let's see this mystery kid, get him here right here, right now and have him show me his power!" Sasuke proclaimed, earning squeals of love from his fan girls. He looked at Naruto to see if he was afraid, but Naruto had a calm look, almost, pitying?

"Don't say I didn't warn you," was all Naruto said before shouting, "MATTHEW!"

Seconds later, in a flurry of blue and white orbs, Matthew appeared.

"What's the problem Naruto?" Matthew asked, searching the area for any threats and bringing his shield up to cover him and Naruto.

Everyone was shocked by his power, but Sasuke just sneered, "The idiot claims that you can move the shuriken without touching them, and get them to hit all the targets? I think he's just a stupid, lying, idiot."

Matthew gave Sasuke a cold look before replying, "Don't _ever_, insult me, or my charge. Otherwise, I may hurt you. Shuriken!" The shuriken all disappeared in a flurry of orbs before reappearing in Matthew's hand. Tossing them up, Matthew held them in the air telekinetically, before sending them spinning off into the targets. He then freezes everyone except for Naruto.

"Naruto, I understand that you want to put the arrogant brat in his place, really, I do," Matthew explains, "But listen. I can't be exposed like this all of the time, okay? You can call me whenever you are in trouble, or when you need guidance, but please, try to make sure no one else knows about me besides the Hokage. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand. Thank you though." Naruto smiles

Matthew smiles back, "Anytime."

Matthew uses his telepathy to erase himself from everyone's minds, ruffles Naruto's hair, the orbs out as everyone unfreezes.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Charmed. They are way too brilliant for my ability. I do own this storyline and the OC. NOTHING ELSE!**

**A/N: I'm really, really sorry for the wait. I was away from home, and I didn't have any Wi-Fi. Sorry!**

Words

Jutsu

_**Spells**_

_Thoughts/emphasis/sarcasm_

**Tailed Beast**

**A/N: Okay, we're gonna skip two years ahead, to the Land of Waves Arc. Matthew and Wyatt are 14, Naruto and Chris are 12. **

**A/N: I'm really sorry if I skip over lines and scenes that you guys think are important, I'm going to try to get as much as I can, but I may skip some scenes and shorten others.**

After completing multiple D-rank missions for the Leaf Village, Naruto finally managed to get the Hokage to agree to let them go on a C-rank mission. Currently, they are assigned to guard a bridge-builder named Tazuna until he can return to his home in the Land of Waves and complete his bridge. They had been walking for a few hours when Kakashi noticed something strange.

_It hasn't rained for the past two days, and the ground is dry. So why is there a puddle in the middle of the road? _Kakashi thought as he studied the body of water. _Of course, Water Style: Hidden in Water! Someone is hiding in that puddle!_

As soon as Kakashi finished that thought he found himself wrapped up in a chain of shuriken, the ends of which were being held by the two Demon Brothers of the Village Hidden in the Mist.

_Substitution! _Kakashi focused his chakra and switched himself with a nearby log, just in time to avoid getting chopped up.

"Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto screamed before he felt the two brothers move behind him. _What?_

However, before either he or the Demon Brothers could do anything, Sasuke leapt into action, throwing his own shuriken and kunai into the chain, pinning it to the tree. He then appeared in front of Naruto and delivered two kicks, one to each of the assassins. The Mist ninja separated, and one ran at Naruto while the other ran at Tazuna. However, before either of them could reach their mark, Kakashi reappeared and incapacitated both of them.

"Good work Sasuke, Sakura," Kakashi said before he turned to Naruto, "Naruto, I'm sorry. I didn't know you would freeze like that, and as a result, you got hurt."

For the first time, Naruto notices the small cuts made by the enemy's blade. The wounds stung a bit, but a strange warmth was slowly spreading to the rest of his hand. _Poison!_ Naruto thought with a trace of fear.

"Hey, you're not hurt are you?" Sasuke asked with a smirk, "Scaredy Cat!"

Without another word, Naruto stabs himself in the hand, bleeding out the poisoned blood.

"I swear by the pain in my left hand, that I will never freeze up in battle again. I will never leave my comrades to fend for themselves. And I will _definitely_ never lose to Sasuke!" Naruto proclaimed before giving everyone a determined look.

"Well that's nice and all," Kakashi stated while taking Naruto's hand, "But now we need to bandage this hand before you bleed out."

"AAAAHHHHHH! BANDAGE IT, BANDAGE IT, BANDAGE IT!"

"Ok ok, calm down!"

################################################## ##################################

Later that night, Naruto was sitting next to the fire keeping watch while everyone else was asleep. Feeling lonely, and wanting to talk to someone, Naruto calls out for Matthew.

"Matthew? Matthew!"

After a few minutes, Matthew orbed in, albeit with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.

"You just _had_ to call me while I was in the shower didn't you? What do you need Naruto?" Matthew asks as he freezes everyone around them so they don't wake up.

Blushing a bit, Naruto tells him about the mission, Tazuna's lie, and his new oath. "But was I right? Should we keep protecting this old man even though he lied to us, and we're clearly out of our league?

Matthew thought about it before he answered, "Well Naruto, I don't have my Aunt Phoebe's gift of premonition, but I can tell you this: You will probably face a lot of pain and hardship in this mission. You will be facing shinobi who are not only much more experienced and stronger than you, but who also don't share your kind heart and are much more willing to kill you than you are to kill them. But listen. You made a promise to protect this man. He is now _your_ charge, just as you are mine. And let me tell you, some charges are not pleasant to work with. But it's also more than that. What this man is doing could save an entire nation, but he'll need your help. So do your best, and remember to call me if things get tough. Ok?"

"Yeah, I think I get it now," Naruto replies, "thanks Matt!"

"Anytime Naruto. Now, let me see your hand." Matthew states as he unwraps Naruto's hand.

_What? Most of this wound is already healed._ Matthew thinks as he studies the cuts. "Hey Naruto, do you have some sort of healing power you didn't tell me about?"

"I wouldn't call it a power, but I do have a crazy healing rate; faster than anyone else I know!" Naruto exclaims excitedly.

_Hmm, I wonder why. I'll need to look into this_. Matthew thinks as he heals the rest of the wound. "Now then! I'm going to cast a protection spell on you as some extra protection."

"Wait! Do you think you could cast it on my whole team, and Tazuna?" Naruto asks worriedly.

Matthew smiles warmly at Naruto. "Sure thing buddy. _**Ancient one of the Earth so deep, Master of the Moon and Sun. I shield you in my Wiccan way, here in my circle round. Asking you protect this group, and offer you're Sun-Force down.**_" Matthew chants as Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, and Tazuna are momentarily encased in a blue aura. But when Naruto starts to glow, his blue aura instantly turns red and shatters.

"Wha-What was that?" Naruto asks fearfully, "It felt so calming and reassuring, but then it changed to hatred and rage!"

Matthew gave Naruto a puzzled look, "I'm not sure. It felt vaguely like demon energy, but more like pure energy that just had a lot of rage and hatred channeled into it. Hang on." Matthew orbs out, but orbs right back in wearing a pair of cargo shorts where his towel had been. "Sorry, I didn't feel like confronting whatever the hell that energy came from in only a towel. These are the first article of clothing I could find."

Naruto blushed again, since Matthew was still not wearing a shirt, and to be honest, he was quite muscular, but quickly became serious again. "I know what it was…"

"Really? What was it then?" Matthew asks with a frown.

"It was the Nine-Tailed Fox that is sealed inside of me." Naruto says before quickly turning away, "Please don't hate me." Naruto starts to cry at the thought of losing his first friend until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto," Matthew states, turning Naruto around, "Listen to me. I told you when we first met two years ago, I told you that you would never be alone, and that I would always be there for you. What's sealed inside you is not your fault, and hell itself will freeze over before I judge someone for something that has nothing to do with them."

"But the villagers-" Naruto was cut off by Matthew's hand over his mouth.

"To hell with the villagers! They are blind fools who want someone to blame for their misfortunes! If anything, you should be seen as a hero for-" Matthew couldn't finish his sentence before he was tackled to the ground in a hug, with a crying Naruto lying on his chest. Matthew thought about struggling before he wrapped the blond in his arms. Standing up, he let go of Naruto and smiled.

Naruto smiled back.

"Ok then. Now it's time to meet your demon!" Matthew tells Naruto, shocking the younger boy.

"Wha-what?" Naruto asks, trembling slightly.

"Relax Naruto," Matthew says as he puts his finger-tips on Naruto's temples, "I've been dealing with demons my whole life. How bad can this one be?"

"A-Alright," Naruto says as he and Matthew enter Naruto's subconscious.

################################################## ###################################

Naruto and Matthew reappeared in a sewer-like room with a large cage on one side. A piece of paper with the kanji for "seal" written on it bound the cage together. Matthew could sense something ominous on the other side of the cage, and kept his guard up.

"**Ah, it appears my jailer has come to greet me. And who is this?"** A deep voice echoed out from behind the bars. A face appeared from the darkness, a giant fox's face with orange fur, "**Come closer boy**_**.**_"

Naruto hesitantly walked closer to the cage, and was unable to see the giant claw shooting toward him. Matthew, however, was.

"I don't think so, furball!" Matthew yelled as he stopped the claw with telekinesis.

"Wow Matthew, you're so cool!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Yeah, I get it, I'm amazingly awesome," Matthew grunted, sweating under the strain of holding back the Nine-Tails' gigantic claw, "Now, if you could please move away from the claw so I can let go, I would really appreciate that."

"Oh, right," Naruto says while walking away and rubbing the back of his neck.

Matthew lets go with a gasp, and the claw recedes back into the cage.

"Ok," Matthew says with a smirk, "let's turn on the lights, shall we? _**A spell to cast with righteous might, I dispel your darkness with my light!**_"

As the Matthew chanted, the darkness behind the cage lifted, allowing Matthew and Naruto to see the large fox locked in the cage.

"**Well well well, it seems that your power is great,**" `Nine-Tails complimented, before turning angry, "**But do you really think your pitiful tricks can stop the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox?!**"

"Wrong," Matthew said, earning an indignant look from the fox, "you're not a demon. I've been vanquishing demons since I was two. _You_ are just an incredibly enormous amount of living chakra, albeit one with an equally enormous amount of hatred. Hatred, I might add, that is not even entirely your own."

"You mean he doesn't have any hatred at all?" Naruto asks, stunned.

"No, he either has _some_ hatred, and someone is amplifying it, or someone is channeling hatred through him. _**Evil demon hiding, behind an innocent's face. This witch's magic casts you, out of this place!**_"

The seal holding the two bars together glowed with red light, which then expanded and shattered, causing the room to brighten up considerably, and the bars holding the Nine-Tails back were no longer rusty.

"**I feel, better**," Nine-Tails stated simply before falling asleep.

"You'll have to talk to him you know," Matthew says, "We could still use the cooperation. On the bright side, my spell should work now."

"Alright," Naruto says before yawning loudly.

Smirking, Matthew puts his hand on Naruto's shoulder, and the room begins to fade.

################################################## ###################################

Naruto looks around for a moment before deciding that he is back in his body. Matthew removes his hands from Naruto's head and steps back.

"Well, it looks like I'm done here, so I'll be leaving now Naruto. Good luck!" Matthew says before orbing out.

_What would I do without him?_ Naruto thinks before waking Sakura up for her watch.

**A/N: Again, really sorry for the wait. Please review and let me know what you guys think! Sorry for any errors.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: For the fifth time, I DON'T OWN NARUTO OR CHARMED!**

**A/N: I know, I know, I'm REALLY sorry for the long wait. I was in Canada for a couple of days, and then when I got back, it was late, and then school started. Here is the long-awaited fifth chapter.**

**To Jmw: I totally agree with you, we really do. I'll think about it, but it'll probably be a yes. I wanna get a little farther in this story first though. But I really like your idea.**

**Warning: The dialogue and fight with Zabuza is probably horribly off-canon. Again, I was in Canada and had no way of looking up what actually happened in the fight.**

Words

Jutsu

_**Spells**_

_Thoughts/emphasis_

_Telepathy_

**Tailed Beast**

Several days after Naruto and Matthew's encounter with the Nine-Tails, Team 7 and Tazuna were across the sea and in the Land of Waves. Naruto has had several discussions with the Nine-Tails while he slept, and things were looking good for the two. However, he was also getting desperate to prove that he wasn't inferior to Sasuke, and as a result, was on hyper-alert for any enemies he could use to redeem himself with. Unfortunately for everyone else, this resulted in Naruto throwing kunai at random times throughout the journey.

"Naruto, would you cut that out?!" Sakura screamed for the twentieth time that day, "You're slowing us down, wasting kunai, and alerting any nearby enemies to our presence you IDOIT!"

"Actually Sakura," Sasuke stated coolly, "if anything is alerting the enemy to our presence, it's you and your constant shouting."

"Bu-but Sasuke!" Sakura replied, hurt.

"But she does have a point loser," Sasuke continued, "you are wasting kunai, slowing us down, and telling any shinobi worth his headband where we are."

"But I could've sworn I-" Naruto didn't finish, instead sending a kunai into a bush.

"IDIOT! WE TOLD YOU TO STOP THAT!" Sakura screeched, hitting Naruto on the head.

Sighing, Kakashi walks over to retrieve it. When he comes out of the bush, he is holding the kunai, and a small white rabbit.

"Well Naruto, it looks like you did sense something. A harmless bunny." Kakashi stated while handing the bunny and the knife to Naruto.

While Naruto is apologizing profusely to the bunny, Kakashi notices something odd. _Strange. It's the middle of spring, and Snow Bunnies shed their white coat in the springtime. Which means that that bunny was raised indoors, and the only reason it'd be out here is-_

"Everyone! Get down!" Kakashi shouts, slamming into the ground, followed by Tazuna, Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto. Just in time too, because a large sword embedded itself in a tree right in front of them. Seconds later, a large man with bandages covering the lower half of his face stood on the handle of the blade.

"Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist Village," Kakashi stated, giving Zabuza a critical eye, "One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, stay back, this one is dangerous."

"Kakashi Hatake, also known as Kakashi of the Sharingan," Zabuza stated, returning Kakashi's gaze, "Rumored to have copied over 1000 jutsu, and formerly a member of the ANBU Black Ops."

Kakashi remains silent, instead pulling up his headband from where it covers his left eye, revealing a red eye with three comma-like marks around the pupil (tomoe).

"Ah, the famous Sharingan of the Leaf Village. I'm honored that you feel its use is needed against me," Zabuza says, "But actually, I'm not here for you or your team. I'm here for the bridge-builder."

"Well then, you'll have to go through me first," Kakashi states before yelling to his squad, "Protect the bridge-builder! Manji Formation!"

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura surrounded Tazuna, each facing a separate direction and drawing a kunai.

"Hmph," Zabuza grunted, raising one arm to his chest and the other above his head, "So be it. Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!"

A thick mist began to form around the area, with Zabuza disappearing into it. Everything was quiet until…

"**Kit, look out behind you!**" The Nine-Tails shouted inside Naruto's head. Naruto had no time to wonder about that before he spun around and saw Zabuza's sword about to cut through Tazuna. Before anyone could react, however, the ground shook and the wind blew hard, causing Tazuna to lose his balance and fall, and Zabuza's sword to blown off course just a little bit. _The spell_. Naruto thought before he was distracted by Kakashi shoving a kunai through Zabuza, only for Zabuza to splash to the ground in a puddle of water. Zabuza then appeared behind Kakashi and cut him in half. However, Kakashi too splashed to the ground in a puddle.

_What?! He copied my Water Clone?!_ Zabuza thought before he felt cold steel press against his neck.

"It's over Zabuza," Kakashi stated coldly. Instead of answering, Zabuza simply dissolved into water. Appearing behind Kakashi, Zabuza flashed through a series of hand-signs.

"Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu!" Zabuza exclaimed. A torrent of water rushed from his hand, quickly enveloping Kakashi and encasing him in a sphere of water.

"Guys, run!" Kakashi yelled to his team. Naruto, however, remained still.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto began, "I made a promise to myself that I would never leave my friends to fend for themselves again. That includes you, and I don't intend to break that promise here!"

Everyone was so focused on Naruto's speech that no one noticed the thin web of golden (what looked like) thread slowly moving inwards from the outside of the water-ball.

"Let's go!" Naruto shouted, forming a hand-sign, "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A thousand Narutos then appeared, swarming Zabuza and dog-piling on top of him. Zabuza, however, knocked all of the clones off of him with a roar. During the confusion, Naruto transformed himself into a shuriken, and had a clone throw him to Sasuke.

_So that's your plan. Not bad Naruto_. Sasuke thought, "Demon Wind Shuriken, Windmill of Shadows!" He then exclaimed, throwing the shuriken at Zabuza. Zabuza, in response, simply caught the shuriken, but was surprised by a second one with Sasuke's Shadow Shuriken Jutsu. However, he merely jumped over the shuriken, which then turned back into Naruto. Naruto then threw a kunai at Zabuza who, much to Naruto's dismay, used the shuriken in his hand to deflect it. Before anything else could happen, the golden threads reached Kakashi, and the water-ball exploded into light. Kakashi was freed, but due to chakra exhaustion and the sheer power of the blast that freed him, was only able to watch as Zabuza closed in on Naruto. However, much to everyone's shock/wonder/disbelief, every slash Zabuza made with his sword was blasted back by a stream of water.

"ENOUGH!" Zabuza roared, sending a huge wave of KI out, along with a surge of chakra. Matthew's spell shattered under the barrage, leaving Naruto defenseless. Zabuza was about to make another slash to chop off Naruto's head when his sword disappeared in a shower of blue and white lights, and a voice called out from a tree.

"You know, trying to kill people isn't very nice Mr. Momochi. _Especially_ children."

"Matthew!" Naruto called out in happiness, relief, and a little bit of worry. After all, this guy had badly beaten Kakashi-sensei. Did Matthew have a chance? Matthew jumped down from the tree, Zabuza's sword in his hand.

"What's up Naruto?" Matthew asks, completely ignoring the looks of incredulity from everyone else present. Even Zabuza was staring at him in amazement.

"Oh, nothing much." Naruto says, grinning at his friend, "Almost beheaded several times today, that's new. But for some reason, wind, water, and earth kept protecting us."

"Really?" Matthew asks with raised eyebrows, genuinely surprised, "Huh, well at least the spell works, but it was never that powerful before. Unless…"

_Nine-Tails, were you powering up my spell?_ Matthew asked the beast telepathically.

"**Just a bit**," Nine-Tails sends back.

"ANYWAY!" Naruto yells, getting everyone's attention back, "Matthew, not that I'm not thrilled to see you, but how are you here? I didn't call you."

"Oh, I sensed your fear, and that you were in danger, so I orbed over to see what the problem was." Matthew explains, looking at Zabuza from the corner of his eye, "And I think I've found it."

Zabuza at this point had mostly gotten over his shock at the newcomer, and decided to get back to business.

"Look, I don't know or care who the hell you are," Zabuza growled, "but I'm here to take care of the old man, the ninja, and the brats. If you get in my way, I'll kill you."

Matthew yawned, "Yeah sure big guy, go ahead and try. I double dare you."

Matthew's nonchalance towards him infuriated Zabuza, "YOU COCKY LITTLE BRAT! I'LL KILL YOU LAST SO YOU CAN WATCH AS I KILL THE OTHERS SLOWLY-" Zabuza was cut off by a strong punch to his face.

_He's so fast_. Was the collective thought of Team 7 and Tazuna. Naruto however, smirked. _He must have froze us, and then punched Zabuza to make it look instantaneous_.

"_Never_, and I mean _never_ threaten my charge," Matthew said dangerously, as the weather seemed to drop to below zero with the sheer KI coming off of Matthew, "Or I will trap your sorry ass in eternal vanquish."

"Now then!" He continues, tossing Zabuza his sword, "I fight fair, so you can have this. You'll need it."

Zabuza didn't reply, simply raising his arms to re-form the mist after a few seconds, Naruto lost sight of everyone and began to panic.

"Cut the games Zabuza," Matthew called out, "I know you're two feet from Tazuna. _**Let the object of objection become but a dream as I cause the seen to be unseen**_." He then chanted, causing the mist to vanish instantly.

Zabuza was in shock, "How did you know where I was, and how did you dissipate my mist?"

"A magician never reveals his secrets," Matthew states, grinning cockily.

Zabuza growls, and then jumps back. Flashing through another series of hand-signs he calls out, "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" A huge torrent of water then shot at Matthew in the shape of a dragon. Without at hint of fear in his eyes, Matthew flicks his hands and the dragon explodes. He then flicks his hands at Zabuza, causing him to explode, but into a puddle of water. Cursing, Matthew turns around in time to become trapped in the same water sphere that Zabuza used to trap Kakashi. Matthew however, just orbs out of it, and reappears a few feet away. Zabuza by this point, is enraged.

"That's it! You die now!" He screams, and flashes through more hand-signs, "Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!" A huge wave of water approaches Matthew, who just closes his eyes, and doesn't move. When the wave is about to reach him, his eyes flash open, he waves his hand, and with a yell, sends the wave back at Zabuza. Zabuza lays defeated against a tree, and Matthew moves in for a kill. However, before he can blow up Zabuza, a senbon needle implants itself in Zabuza's neck. He falls over, dead.

"Thank you," says a hunter-ninja that landed next to Zabuza's body, "I have been following this criminal for several weeks now. I was going to intervene, but it looks like you had it handled." The hunter-ninja then lifts Zabuza over his shoulder and forms a hand-sign.

"My orders were to take his whole body," The hunter-ninja explains, "Thank you again. Perhaps we'll meet again one day." And with that, the ninja, and Zabuza vanish.

"Well, that was anti-climactic wasn't it?" Matthew asks, causing everyone to sweat-drop. "And I didn't even get to blow him up!"

"Umm, Matthew?" Naruto asks, pointing at Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke, and Tazuna, who were all gaping like fish, "I think you're scaring them."

"Eh, they'll get over it. Now let's see: Kakashi right? I remember Sasuke and Sakura of course, so the fat old guy must be Tazuna." Matthew states.

_Please tell me that Sasuke and Sakura have changed since the last time I've met them._ Matthew thinks at Naruto.

_Yeah, Sasuke's much less obnoxious, but Sakura is still infatuated with him_. Naruto sends back, although Matthew can sense the hidden jealousy for Sakura's affection.

_Unbelievable_. Matthew thinks to himself, while shaking his head. _He's still in love with her. Although I'll never understand why_.

"Who are you, and how do you know us?" Kakashi asks, while signaling Naruto to get away from him. He tries to look threatening, but Matthew just laughs.

"Really Kakashi?" Matthew asks, "I just took out a guy who even you had trouble with without even breaking a sweat. You really think you can intimidate me? But don't worry, I'll explain everything."

Sasuke, however, felt he needed to butt in, "You need to teach me those moves and techniques! And how did you become so strong in the first place?"

"Oh Sasuke, still conceited as ever I see," Matthew says while chuckling.

"Hey! You can't talk to Sasuke like that! He's the greatest person ever!" Sakura screamed.

"WOW she's annoying," Matthew says as he freezes Sakura, "there, now that's better. Oh, hang on." Matthew's eyes glow gold for a second as he releases the memories Sasuke has of him.

"You!"

"Yup!" Matthew says, popping the "p", "Now then, let's begin…."

For the next hour and a half, Matthew tells the story about how he met Naruto, how it is his job to protect him, and a little bit about himself and witches in general.

"Wow," Kakashi says, stunned. Sasuke, however, is still un-happy.

"How come I don't have a white-lighter?" He asks arrogantly.

Matthew sighs before replying, "To be perfectly honest Sasuke, I have no idea. White-lighters are assigned to those who are in the deepest danger, or who desperately need someone to guide/protect them. It may just not be your destiny. I'm sorry though." He said, sounding genuinely sympathetic. Sasuke was shocked.

"Well, that's all nice, but now we have to decide what to do next," Kakashi interrupts, bringing back the problem at hand.

"I'd have thought that simple," Matthew says, confused, "We continue to Tazuna's village so he can finish the bridge."

"Great, more brats," Tazuna grumbles. Matthew ignores him, simply squinting at the water and causing it to splash in his face.

"That's what I meant," Kakashi continues, "Where did this 'we' come from? I never agreed that you could come along." Kakashi tries to use a subtle genjutsu, but it shatters.

"Don't insult me with those pathetic attempts at mind control. I'm a telepath, remember?" Matthew says, looking offended.

"Of course he can come! What are you talking about Kakashi-sensei?!" Naruto yelled, glaring at Kakashi.

"Calm down Naruto," Matthew says, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder before turning to Kakashi. Kakashi looked into his eyes and saw something dangerous and powerful lying beneath, "besides, it's not like you can do much about it Kakashi."

Looking defeated, Kakashi sighs, "Alright, fine. He can come." He immediately claps his hands over his ears to drown out Naruto's shouts of joy.

"Okay, fine." Matthew says, looking happy, "I'll just orb home to tell my mom." And with that, Matthew orbs out.

_Things are getting interesting really fast around here_. Kakashi thinks as he drifts off to sleep.

**A/N: PLEASE REVIEW! I'm sorry for the wait!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR CHARMED! IF ANYONE STILL BELIEVES I DO, THEN YOU ARE CRAZY!**

**A/N: I know, I'm sorry for the delay. School started up again and things have been hectic. Now! On with the show! Also, Jmw: Thank you, I will keep that in mind.**

**A/N: I'm getting rid of the key. For some reason, it doesn't want to read anyway, and I'm tired of editing it.**

Team 7, Matthew, and Tazuna had finally arrived at Tazuna's village. Upon seeing it, everyone was shocked by the hopeless look in the people's eyes. Even Matthew was affected, having seen happier places in the Underworld. Eventually, they made it to Tazuna's house, where Tazuna introduced them to Tsunami, his daughter. She thanked them all for helping her father and her village, before everyone turned in for the night.

The next morning, Kakashi brought everyone to a clearing in the middle of the forest to go over chakra exercises.

"Ok, now we're going to work on your chakra control," Kakashi stated, walking over to a tree, "and you'll be doing it by climbing these trees."

"That's easy Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted, voicing what everyone else was thinking.

"_Without_ using your hands," Kakashi states, earning disbelieving looks from everyone.

"Bu-but that's impossible!" Naruto protested.

"Nothing is impossible Naruto," Matthew stated, thinking of all the things he and his family have done, "but some things are tougher than others."

Instead of answering, Kakashi simply began walking up the tree. When he reached a high branch, he stood on it upside-down.

"You were saying Naruto?" Kakashi asks, jumping down. Without waiting for him to answer, Kakashi continues, "The idea is to focus chakra into your feet, which will allow you to stick to the tree. But be careful with how much you use." And with that, Kakashi walked away.

"Well, best get started now," Matthew says while stepping back.

"Wait, aren't you going to do the training?" Sakura asks.

"I will, but I want to see how you use chakra first," was Matthew's reply.

Shrugging, the three genin begin trying to climb trees. Naruto, who didn't use enough chakra, fell of the tree after only one step. Sasuke, who used too much chakra, made it up higher before damaging the tree and falling off. Sakura, who had perfect chakra control, made it all the way up to a high branch on her first try.

"Ok, I think I know how this works," Matthew says, before mumbling to himself. He then proceeded to flawlessly walking up the tree, before walking back down.

"How did you do that?" Sasuke asked, "None of us could do it that perfectly on the first try."

"Yeah! Tell us!" Naruto demanded, pouting at Matthew.

Sighing, Matthew looks at the three hopeful faces, "Look, I don't have chakra. I come from a place where people haven't evolved to use chakra networks. We all have life-energy, but we can't use it like you can. My species, witches, can manipulate the energy all around us to do magic. So, I just cast a spell to make my feet sticky. If you want to learn how to use chakra to climb the tree, I suggest you work together. Use your Power of Three." And with that, Matthew orbed to Tsunami's house.

Later that night during dinner, Sakura noticed that a picture of Tazuna's family had a portion missing. When asked about it, Tazuna sadly tells them the story about Kaiza, how he was a hero to the village, and how he was killed. Upon hearing how his death affected Inari, Matthew looked thoughtful. Meanwhile, Naruto, determined to prove to Inari that there are still heroes out there, goes out to continue training.

Naruto made it to the clearing and began tree-climbing. However, Naruto didn't last long before exhaustion took over and he passed out.

He was awakened to someone gently shaking his shoulder. When Naruto opened his eyes, he noticed that the person who was waking him was a beautiful girl in a pink kimono.

"You know you shouldn't sleep out on the ground all night. You will get sick," she said, eyeing him with concern. Seeing his weapon pouch, she continues, "Oh, you're a ninja aren't you?"

"You bet! I'm training to become stronger!" Naruto says proudly.

"Become stronger huh? Tell me, do you have someone who is precious to you?" the girl asks, surprising Naruto.

"Huh? What do you mean" Naruto asks, confused.

"I heard that when you have someone precious to you that you must protect, you can become immensely strong." She explains.

Naruto thought about all of the people in his life: Matthew, Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, and Sakura. He decided she was right.

"Yeah, I understand," Naruto says slowly.

"Well then, I need to get these herbs to my father," the girl says, standing up, "He needs these to help heal."

_Wow_. Naruto thinks to himself. _She's the prettiest girl I've ever seen_.

As if sensing his thoughts, the girl turns around.

"Oh by the way, I'm a boy." HE added as he walked away.

When Sasuke walked into the clearing later to find Naruto and continue training, he found Naruto still sitting there with his mouth hanging open.

Later that night, while everyone was enjoying Tsunami's cooking, Inari walked in to see Sasuke and Naruto looking exhausted from training.

"Why do you even bother?!" He yelled at them angrily, "You can't beat Gato, he's invincible!"

"Bullshit," Matthew says, causing everyone to look at him, "I've defeated the Source of All Evil himself, I'm pretty sure we can handle one little mob boss. But of course, you're too caught up in your own self-pity to realize that killing Gato, while a little difficult, is not impossible."

"What the hell can you say about anything?" Inari demands, "None of you have any idea what we've been though!" The whole room began to shake for a moment or two before Naruto walked over and slammed Inari in to the wall.

"Shut. The hell. Up." Naruto says, his voice dripping with venom, "You have no _idea_ what I've been through. My whole life, I've been beaten, starved, and alone. Up until two years ago, I had _no one_! Only recently have I begun making friends. So don't you _dare_ claim that I have no idea. _You_ have no idea!" Naruto finished, throwing Inari to the ground, after which he walked upstairs and slammed the door. Inari, traumatized, ran out of the door, with Kakashi following soon after.

Sighing, Tsunami apologizes, "I'm sorry for that. I just wish someone could get through to him."

"Maybe someone can," Matthew says, looking at Tsunami, "tell me Tsunami, do you have any candles?"

Meanwhile with Kakashi and Inari…

"You know," Kakashi says, sitting next to Inari, "Naruto didn't mean to be mean to you. But he is also right. He's probably the only one here who really understands what you're going through."

"He was probably lying," Inari grumbles.

"No, he wasn't," Kakashi stated coolly, giving Inari a piercing gaze, "Naruto has been hated by our entire village since he was born. But unlike you, he grew tired of crying, and decided to do something about it."

Kakashi was interrupted by Matthew, who was walking down to them.

"Listen, I need both of you at the house, right now." Matthew says.

"Why?" Kakashi asks, confused.

Matthew turns and looks at them before replying, "It's time someone talked some sense into little Inari here. I'm going to summon Kaiza."

**A/N: I know, I know. I'm sorry for the short chapter. The next one will be longer!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own Charmed or Naruto.**

**A/N: I'm really not happy with that last chapter, so I spent a little more time with this one. This one will be longer, and I'll be going into Matthew's origins a bit. Also, to****Dattebayo Luna and Ginny, thank you, that really means a lot to me. Now then! Onwards!**

Inari stared at Matthew for a bit before he started screaming at Matthew with tears running down his face.

"Oh for the love of-SHUT UP!" Matthew shouted. He flicked his hand, and Inari slumped to the floor.

"What did you do?" asked Kakashi, crouching down to look at the child.

Massaging his temples, Matthew replied, "I froze just his head, making the rest of his body assume he was asleep. I'm sorry, I just couldn't stand his screaming, and it's easier to carry him this way than if he was fully frozen."

Kakashi looked at Inari again and noticed his face still looked as if he was screaming. _Must be a handy power_. Kakashi thought to himself.

"Oh it is," Matthew says, picking up Kakashi's thoughts, "it _really_ came in handy when my brothers and I had a fight. Although, mom never did really see it that way…" Matthew takes on a thoughtful look before pointing at Inari.

"Could you carry him please?" Matthew asks, "I don't want to orb him in there and scare everyone."

Sighing, Kakashi picked up Inari and carried him back into the house. When they came inside, they saw Tsunami had lit several candles and placed them on the table.

"Thanks Tsunami," Matthew says, smiling, "Now let's get the other ones. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura." As he says their names, the three genin appear in a flurry of orbs.

"Don't ask, shut up, and go sit in there." Matthew says, pointing to the living room. He flicks his hand and Inari's head unfreezes, but with another flick of his hands, the rest of Inari's body freezes, except the head.

"You can't….. Mom? Why can't I feel my everything?" Inari asks, finding he can't move anything except his head. Suddenly, he sees Matthew, "You! What did you do to me?!" He screams, annoying the hybrid.

"I froze everything except your head so you don't do anything stupid." Matthew explains. With a gesture of his hand, Inari floats into the living room. Kakashi walks in as well, followed by Tsunami, and finally Matthew.

"Right then, let's begin. Candles, circle!" Matthew calls. The candles Tsunami set on the table orb onto the floor in a circle. Taking a deep breath, Matthew closes his eyes. When he opens them again, he begins to chant.

"_**Hear these words, hear my cry. Spirit from the other side, come to me, I summon thee. Cross now the Great Divide**_."

A swarm of white lights swirled in the center of the circle. They slowly came together, and in a flash of light, a man appeared in the center. He was wearing a blue shirt, white shorts, and had a piece of rope tied around his head. He was transparent, but as he stepped out of the circle he corporealized.

"What kind of trick is this?" Inari asks, half angrily, half fearfully.

"It's not a trick, it's magic," Matthew says, unfreezing Inari, "But it won't last long because he isn't a witch. Use your time wisely."

Kaiza walked over and kneeled in front of Inari. Putting his hand on his head, he smiled at his son.

"Hello Inari," Kaiza said warmly.

"Daddy," Inari whispered before he threw himself at Kaiza. Tsunami and Tazuna were still staring at Kaiza, but they quickly ran over and hugged him as well.

"We should let them have their privacy," Kakashi said as he guided Team 7 and Matthew out of the living room. Once outside, Matthew looked at the ninja and seemed to come to a decision.

"I think it's time I told you my story," Matthew said, sitting down on the grass and motioning for the others to do the same. After everyone was seated, Matthew's eyes glowed gold, and everything darkened.

When everyone could see again, they saw that they were standing in what looked like an attic. There were stain glass windows and other assorted items lying around. The most interesting thing, however, was a large green-leather bound book with a triquetra on it at one end of the room.

"Where are we?" asked Kakashi, confused.

"This is my mindscape," Matthew explains, "or you could call it my subconscious. Everyone has one, and it takes the form of the place you find most comforting. Apparently for me, that would be the attic of my house."

"Why are we here?" Sasuke asks, looking around, "do we really have time for this?"

"We are here so that I can tell you about myself. Seeing as I know everything about all of you, it's only fair. Don't worry about time though," Matthew added, "When we are done, only one second will have passed outside if I want it to. Now then, I was born on the 2nd of February, five minutes after my older twin, Wyatt. My mother's name is Piper Halliwell, and she is one of the Charmed Ones, the three most powerful witches to ever walk the Earth. My mother tried, unsuccessfully, to give my brother and me a normal childhood. When we were two, our little brother Chris was born. With that, demon attacks, and six cousins, things were never really boring. But when I was ten, my mother came to talk to me."

Lights suddenly surround the five people and quickly disappeared. When they were gone, they noticed nothing had changed except for a woman with long brown hair was talking to a younger-looking Matthew.

"Is that-" Naruto begins, but is cut off.

"Yes that is me and my mother," Matthew says, "Now please be quiet."

"But mom," the younger Matthew said, looking confused, "I don't understand, you're sending me to the past?"

"Not that far, but yes," Piper says, trying not to cry, "You are going to meet us before Aunt Prue died, before we met Aunt Paige, and before your father and I were married. As soon as you hear that I am pregnant, you have to come back."

"But why?" Matthew asked, clearly upset.

"Because you came to us then, you didn't tell us who you were, or where you came from, at least, not at first, but if you weren't there then we wouldn't be here now." Piper says before continuing, "After your father and I are married, then you may tell them who you are. We will summon you back in a year and a half."

"A YEAR AND A HALF?!" Matthew yells, causing a sofa to blow up and the room to shake. Taking a deep breath, he continues, "Can I at least say goodbye to everyone?"

"Go ahead sweetie," Piper says, holding him tight.

Matthew closes his eyes for a second, and a flurry of lights appear, followed by another. The first one reveals a boy the same size as Matthew, but had blonde hair and blue eyes instead of Matthew's light brown hair and green eyes. The second boy was a little younger and had dark brown hair and green eyes.

"Are those-" Naruto is again cut off, but this time it is Kakashi who stops him by putting his hand over his mouth. He points at the older Matthew, who is trying not to cry as well.

"What's up Matt?" the blonde one asks as he walks toward the younger Matthew.

"Wyatt, Chris…. I'm leaving," Matthew says simply before taking a huge breath.

"So why'd you call us here?" Wyatt asks, confused at the way his brother was acting.

Chris, however, realized what his brother was trying to say, "For how long?" he asks fearfully.

Matthew looks at his mother, who nods at him, "I will be leaving for a year and a half. I'm going to the past." He looks away as tears stream down his face.

"Bu-but, but why?" Wyatt asks, clearly upset as well.

"Because I need to go and help mom, Aunt Prue, and Aunt Phoebe," Matthew explains, "Apparently, they are going to need my help with a lot of things."

"So then why don't you just come back here and now when you aren't needed anymore?" Chris asks, trying to be helpful.

"Because boys, that would hardly be fair to Matthew. He'd have to go a year without seeing us, but we would only have to go a second," Piper explains, "Besides, if we summon him right back, he'll technically be a year older. If we do it this way, you'll all be the same age."

Wyatt and Matthew are just staring at each other. They had been together their whole lives, and now they had been told that they wouldn't see each other for almost two years. Neither wanted to lose his other half.

"Matt honey, we should get ready," Piper says gently.

Matthew just nods before running over and hugging Chris tight.

"Bye-bye Baby Bro," Matthew says, using the old phrase from when they were kids. Chris just smiles at his older brother before squeezing him once more and then retreating. Matthew looks at Wyatt and hugs him as well.

"Try to keep out of trouble while I'm gone," Matthew says while trying to smile, "I don't wanna come back to find the place destroyed."

"I don't know," Wyatt says, grinning back, "I won't have you around to keep me out of trouble."

The two boys hug for another minute before letting go. Matthew walks into the center of the attic.

"Are you ready sweetie?" Piper asks. Matthew just nods before walking over and hugging her as well.

"Ok, let's do it," Matthew says, "_**Hear these words, hear the rhyme. Heed the hope within my mind. Take me back to where I'll find, what I seek in Space and Time.**_"

White lights begin to surround Matthew. As they close in, he takes one last look at his family before vanishing.

As Matthew vanished, Piper, Wyatt, and Chris vanished as well. Team 7 and Matthew once again found themselves alone in the attic. Older Matthew takes a moment to prepare himself.

"I'm sorry," he began, "that affected me more than I thought it would."

"There's no need," Kakashi says, "What you did was nothing short of amazing. I know very few people who could leave everything behind like you did."

Naruto went over and hugged Matthew. "You were amazing," he said with absolute certainty.

"Thanks Naruto," Matthew says, ruffling Naruto's hair.

"So what happened next?" Kakashi asked, intrigued.

"I went back to my aunts and mother when they were in their third year of being witches," Matthew says, "Back then Aunt Prue was still alive. I helped them out until my mom found out she was pregnant with me and Wyatt. We went through the death of Aunt Prue, found Aunt Paige, and vanquished the Source of All Evil, three times mind you.

"A month after I was back I was sent to the past again for ten months. I got to witness my own birth and help save my brother and myself from various demons that wanted to control us. My mother pulled me out again, but sent me back within two weeks. I was cut off from returning for a year because the future changed because Chris came back to warn us about Wyatt becoming evil, which actually caused the whole thing.

"I spent the last four months in the past helping my family deal with Avatars, beings with immense power that wanted to control the world to end all fighting." Matthew explains in great detail. At the end of his story the rest of Team 7 are simply staring at him in shock.

"Wow, you've had quite the life haven't you?" Kakashi asks, completely dumbfounded.

"Yeah, never really had a dull moment in my life," Matthew responds, rubbing the back of his neck, "Well I think that's enough for today. Let's go."

Matthew's eyes glowed gold for a second before their surroundings evaporated into mist. When they could see again, everyone realized that they were back at Tazuna's house.

"Well what now?" Naruto asks.

"Hmm, we've been gone for 20 minutes," Matthew says while looking thoughtful, "so that means that Kaiza has to go back, and you Naruto, are going to bed. You've been training all day today, you'll need it.

Everyone walked back inside where they found the four family members still talking.

"I'm really sorry to interrupt, but Kaiza has to go back now," Matthew says.

"Alright then," Kaiza says, walking back into the circle and becoming transparent, "Thank you. And Inari, remember what I told you. Don't lose hope."

Inari tearfully nods at Kaiza, sad to see his father go. Matthew waves his hand and Kaiza disappears in a swarm of white lights. Inari silently walks over to Matthew and hugs him, before walking up the stairs to his room. The genin soon follow, as well as Tazuna and Tsunami.

Turning, Kakashi says to Matthew, "You should rest too. You definitely deserve it."

"Yeah," Matthew says, yawning, "I think we'll all need it. I have a feeling that tomorrow will be a _very_ busy day."

**A/N: Next time! The fight with Zabuza. Also, I'm going to bring Chris and Wyatt in too. My question is this: should I keep them and have them form their own squad with Matthew, or should they just leave. Another thing, I'm going to put Wyatt on Team 7 if I have too. Should I make it a four-man team, or replace/kill Sakura. Leave me a review with your thoughts!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Naruto or Charmed.**

**A/N: Hi guys! Miss me? I'm sorry for the really long wait. I had finals and school's been hectic. BUT! School is over now, so I'll be updating more. And now, the long awaited 8****th**** chapter of Naruto's Guardian Angel. It's actually my longest one yet. Also, to Jmw, yes, I will still do your story idea but like I said, things have been hectic. I will do it soon, however, and I will make an announcement when it is up.**

Contrary to Matthew's previous prediction, the next day, and the rest of the week passed un-eventful for Matthew and Team 7. Sasuke and Naruto continued training, while Sakura and Matthew protected Tazuna. Eventually, work on the bridge was almost done, so the shinobi and witch were preparing for the worst. When Tazuna announced that work on the bridge would be finished the next day, Naruto worked late into the night training, and finally made it to the top of his tree.

When Naruto returned from training that night, he immediately collapsed onto his bed. Deciding that he needed to recover his chakra as well as stamina, Kakashi and Matthew agreed to let Naruto sleep in the next morning.

As he was preparing for the day in the morning, Matthew heard to voice of his brother in his head.

_Matthew!_ Wyatt calls, _Chris and I are under attack! We need your help!_

_Hang on Wy, I'm coming._ Matthew sends back before focusing on Kakashi, _Kakashi, my brothers need my help. I'll meet up with you guys later._

_No problem_. Kakashi sends back. _Do what you need to do_.

Breaking the connection, Matthew senses for Wyatt and orbs to his location.

################################################## ############################

**Underworld**

When he arrives, Matthew finds himself in an underground cave with demons flinging energy balls everywhere. He looks for Wyatt and Chris and finds them hiding behind a rock. Quickly, he makes his way over.

"Okay," Matthew says rubbing his temples, "Which one of you decided to go demon hunting?"

"It was Wyatt!" Chris shouts, pointing at the blonde, "He made me come with him!"

"That's not true!" Wyatt shouted back, "You said you were bored, so I suggested demon hunting. I didn't hear you make any complaints about it then!"

"Shut up both of you!" Matthew shouts, smacking both boys on the back of the head as he does so, "It doesn't matter whose idea it was, now we just need to get out of here alive. Jeez you two give me headaches…"

_I wonder if this is how mom felt growing up with Aunts Prue and Phoebe_. Matthew thought before focusing on the problem at hand. _Okay, twelve Mid to Upper-Level demons, in the Underworld, which probably means more will be coming in to see what the commotion is about_. As he thought that, Matthew saw ten more demons shimmer in. _Ugh, I need a vacation_.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do," Matthew says before whispering his plan to his brothers. Both of them readily agree and begin to attack the demons.

Wyatt throws out his hands, unleashing his energy waves and destroying all but the Upper-Level demons. Chris proceeds by flinging the rest of the demons into the wall before Matthew froze them. However, the demons quickly began unfreezing, so Wyatt, Matthew, and Chris began to chant.

"_**Spirits of Air, Forest, and Sea, set us of these demons free. Beasts of hoof and Beasts of shell, drive these evils back to hell**_."

The remaining demons screamed before exploding in blasts of fire.

"Yeah, we did it!" cheered Wyatt. His wide grin faded however, as he felt an arrow tip press against his back, and a voice spoke from behind him.

"I wouldn't celebrate yet," the Dark-lighter said. Matthew and Chris moved to help him, but they too felt arrow tips on their backs. Looking around, they saw that they were surrounded by Dark-lighters. Matthew could only think of one thing to say.

"Shit"

################################################## ############################

**The Land of Waves**

Sunlight streamed in from the window and struck Naruto in the face. Slowly, he opened his eyes and sits up. Without warning, he suddenly springs to his feet.

"Darn it! I over-slept!" He says to himself as he hurriedly gets his clothes on. He rushes downstairs, only to find Tsunami calmly cooking him breakfast.

"Good morning Naruto," she says pleasantly while placing an egg and sausage on his plate before handing it to him, "You friend and your sensei decided to let you sleep in, since you were out so late training last night. They told me to tell you to meet them at the bridge."

Nodding, Naruto quickly runs out the door, taking to the trees as he goes. Speeding through the forest, Naruto runs to catch up with his friends.

################################################## ############################

**At the Bridge**

Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke, and Tazuna arrived at the bridge only to find all of the crew members knocked out. Seeing the state his workers were in, Tazuna rushed over.

"What happened to my men?!" he questions as he panics. Suddenly, a thin mist forms on the bridge.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Kakashi," Zabuza's voice sounds throughout the mist, seeming to come from all directions at once. Sasuke and Sakura grip their kunai tighter, drawing Zabuza's attention to them, "I see you still have those brats with you. That one's still shaking in his shoes."

Suddenly, they are surrounded by five Zabuzas. Sasuke, however, just smirks.

"I'm shaking with, excitement," he says before leaping into action. He moves quickly, severing each Zabuza with his kunai, turning each one into a puddle of water.

_I can see it!_ He thinks to himself. Finally, the real Zabuza, along with Haku, appear at the end of the bridge.

"So you could see they were water-clones huh?" Zabuza comments, "Looks like you have a rival Haku."

"So it seems," Haku responds emotionlessly.

"So I was right," Kakashi states, "it was all an act."

"So I'm guessing that the whole 'tracker-ninja' story was a big bunch of bull," Tazuna says, eyeing the pair.

"They've probably pulled that act countless times before," Kakashi responds.

Haku, however, becomes a blur of movement as he speeds towards Sasuke. Sasuke counters, and blocks Haku's attack.

"We want the bridge-builder, not you," Haku states, "back down now, and I won't have to kill you."

"Save it," Sasuke spits back. Haku doesn't respond, but begins flashing through one-handed hand-signs. Finishing, he stomps on the ground, causing large spikes of water to form around him and Sasuke which freeze into ice. Leaping away, the spikes shoot at Sasuke, but he pumps chakra into his legs, allowing him to jump up and avoid them. Landing behind Haku, the two become a blur of movement as they fight against each other. Sasuke eventually ends it by kicking Haku away and knocking towards Zabuza.

_It's not possible!_ Zabuza thinks. _No one is faster than Haku!_

"I'm sorry it's come to this," Haku says before forming a hand-sign, "Secret Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors."

As Haku activates his jutsu, the air around Sasuke drops sharply. Suddenly, the water around him shapes into a dome of mirrors around him and then freeze. Haku enters one of the mirrors, and his image is then shown on every mirror. Kakashi moves to help Sasuke, but is stopped by Zabuza.

"If you enter this fight," the Demon of the Hidden Mist warns, "you fight me."

Meanwhile, inside the ice-dome, Haku begins throwing senbon at Sasuke. Sasuke quickly finds himself in a world of pain as the needles slice and stab him.

"Sasuke no!" Sakura yells, feeling useless to save him. Quickly, she pulls out a kunai and charges at the ice-dome. When she gets close enough, she jumps into the air and throws the kunai. Haku, however, simply reaches out of the ice-dome and catches it. This proves to be a mistake when a shuriken whizzes by and slams into Haku's mask, knocking him completely out of the mirror and onto the ground. Accompanying the shuriken is a large column of smoke.

_That idiot_. Sasuke thinks.

_Who is it?_ Sakura wonders.

_Number-one, hyperactive, knuckle-head ninja_. Haku mentally recites.

As the smoke settles, Naruto appears, loudly signaling his presence to everyone.

"Have no fear! Naruto Uzumaki is here!" He shouts, causing everyone to stare at him. Naruto forms the hand-sign for the Shadow Clone Jutsu, but is cut off when Zabuza flings shuriken at him. He is saved, however, by Haku, who throws senbon at the shuriken and knocking them to the ground.

"Haku!" Zabuza shout, disbelief shown clearly on his face, "What are you doing?!"

"Forgive me Zabuza," Haku says while staring at Naruto, "but I wish to fight this one in my own way. Please."

"All right," Zabuza chuckles, "do with him what you will."

Sasuke sees his chance and throws a kunai at Haku. Haku, however, merely dodges it, and turns to look at Sasuke.

"Very well," he says, "since you cannot accept defeat with honor, let us finish our battle, to the death!"

Haku walks back into the mirrors, and once again his image surrounds Sasuke. Soon after, Sasuke again finds himself under a barrage of senbon needles. Naruto decides to help Sasuke.

"Hey Sasuke," Naruto says from behind his friend, "I snuck in here to help you."

"Y-you… YOU ARE SUCH AN IDIOT!" Sasuke shouts, as Kakashi and Sakura merely face-palm.

"Well excuse me for trying to help!" Naruto shouts back.

"That is it!" Sasuke shouts before flashing through hand-signs, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Sasuke expels the flame from his mouth, intending to melt the ice mirrors. The mirror, however, are not affected.

"Sorry," Haku says while raising more senbon, "but it will take much more heat than that to melt this ice. Now if you're done, we can continue. Please don't resent me."

Haku again starts his rain of senbon, continuously striking Naruto and Sasuke. After he finishes, they slowly pick themselves up.

_I can't even see where the attacks are coming from!_ Naruto thinks. _How do we stop him?_

################################################## ############################

**Somewhere in the Underworld**

Wyatt, Matthew, and Chris are being led by the dark-lighters through a series of tunnels and caves. Matthew however, is in a great deal of pain as cuts and puncture wounds appear throughout his body.

_What is Naruto doing?_ Matthew thinks as another series of wounds suddenly appear on his body. Chris has tried healing him, but the wounds refuse to close. They have been gagged to prevent talking and spell-casting, and Matthew's telepathy was being jammed. Finally, they arrive in a chamber with three cages in the center. Each boy is loaded into a cage, which is then locked. After the dark-lighters are sure they can't escape, the gags vanish.

"Let us go!" Wyatt demands, attempting to blast the cage.

"We'll let you go," one of the dark-lighter smirks.

"Yeah, once we get your family down here and capture all of them," the second one gloats.

"After that, we'll kill all of you!" the third one finishes.

Matthew manages to stand up and faces the dark-lighters, "You guys are even stupider than you look if you think you can handle the full force of the Charmed Ones."

The three dark-lighters scowl at him before they retreat to the opening of the chamber. Another wave of pain hits Matthew and he desperately tries to orb out of the cage. The bars, however, simply glow black, and he is sent tumbling to the ground.

_Matthew? Matthew! We need your help!_ Matthew gasps as he hears Naruto's voice in his head. He knows he needs to help his friend, but he also knows he can't leave the chamber. They two desires struggle inside him until suddenly, he collapses to the ground.

"Hey!" one of the dark-lighters shouts, hurrying over to the cage. He looks at Wyatt and Chris, "What's the matter with him?"

Chris looks at Wyatt, also confused. Wyatt, however, just smirks, "He's astral projecting."

################################################## ############################

**At the Bridge**

Sasuke and Naruto have been tormented by Haku's barrage of needles for what feels like an eternity. Naruto has tried calling for Matthew several times, but his guardian has not appeared.

"Matthew Halliwell!" Naruto cries again in desperation. As expected, no response.

_Where is he?_ Naruto wonders. Matthew has never not answered his call before and it was worrying Naruto.

Suddenly, a red light flashed in the center of the ice-dome. When it faded, Matthew was there, but he looked confused.

"Naruto? Sasuke?" he says, looking wildly around, "Where are we?"

"You're inside my funhouse of mirrors," comments Haku, "and you won't be leaving."

Matthew raises an eyebrow at the numerous images of Haku that surrounded him before commenting, "Well, looks like someone's a little full of himself." Suddenly, Matthew doubles over in pain. A larges wound has appeared in his stomach, and he disappears in another flash of red light.

"What the hell just happened?" Sasuke wonders out loud.

################################################## ############################

**In the Chamber**

Matthew gasps as his mind forcibly re-enter his body. The next noise he makes is a grunt of pain when he sees the arrow sticking out of his stomach.

"Welcome back," the lead dark-lighter says as he grips the arrow. Matthew turns his head to see that Wyatt and Chris are on their knees with arrows pointed at their heads.

"Now then," the dark-lighter that was holding his arrow said, "You're not going to leave again are you? Good. Now I want you to tell me where you went."

When Matthew didn't answer him, the dark-lighter just grinned before twisting the arrow. Matthew screamed in pain, causing Wyatt and Chris to move to help him. However, their respective dark-lighters shoved them back to the ground. Chris couldn't help the few tears that streamed down his face as he watched his older brother being tortured. Wyatt on the other hand, was feeling rage both at the dark-lighters and at himself. Them for hurting Matthew, and him for getting them all into this situation.

After the pain of the arrow twisting inside him subsided, Matthew noticed that there was no numb feeling spreading through him that was usually associated with dark-lighter poison. He also noticed that the usual drain on his powers was absent as well, for he could hear Wyatt and Chris' thoughts and concerns. Quickly, he sent them a message.

_Guys! Relax, I'm fine. Now listen. We need to work quickly in order to get out of here._ Wyatt and Chris both blinked and then looked at Matthew as he relayed instructions.

_Now, when I say "now", you both orb. I don't care where, just away from those two._ His brothers looked concerned, but gave the tiniest of nods.

"Now, are you going to tell me where you went?" the dark-lighter asked again. When Matthew nodded, he smiled and yanked the arrow out of Matthew. Seeing their chance, Matthew called out, "NOW!"

Immediately Wyatt and Chris orbed to Matthew's side while Matthew squinted his eyes at the dark-lighter that pulled the arrow out of him. Said dark-lighter was flung onto the ceiling where he was impaled by a stalagmite and dropped to the floor. Matthew flicked his hands and he was no more. The other two launched arrows at them, but Chris waved his hand and they turned back and struck the two, vanquishing them.

Seeing that they were out of immediate danger, Wyatt healed the wound on Matthew's stomach. However, his other wounds still would not heal.

"Well guys, it's been fun, but I need to get back now," Matthew says, "Please don't do anything stupid again while I'm gone, huh?"

"All right, you got it," Wyatt says, smiling. Chris, however, looks at Matthew hopefully.

"Um, Matt?" Chris asks, "Do you think I could come to?"

"I'm not sure buddy," Matthew says, "Naruto's home is a dangerous place."

"Oh come on!" Wyatt says, gesturing around the chamber, "It can't possibly be worse than this."

Reaching a decision, Matthew sighs, "All right Chris. You can come with me."

"Hey! I wanna come to!" Wyatt shouts.

"Fine!" Matthew yells in exasperation, "You can both come! Now can we go please? When I left, the fight didn't look good for Naruto."

Cheering, Wyatt and Chris grab Matthew's shoulder and they orb out.

################################################## ############################

**At the Bridge**

Matthew orbs them directly into the ice-dome to the surprise of Naruto, Sasuke, and Haku. Chris and Wyatt are gawking at Haku's ice mirrors, while Matthew just waves at the three ninja.

"'Sup?" he asks, looking at all of the mirrors.

"Um, Matthew?" Naruto asks, "What happened? Why did you vanish? And why are your brothers here?"

"Well," Matthew begins, "In that order: My mind left my body to come here, I was stabbed in the stomach, and they were bugging me to come here with me."

"Oh," was all Naruto said before they were interrupted.

"Hey Matt!" Wyatt asks, "Which one is your charge?"

"The blonde one in the orange jumpsuit," Matthew replied, "his name is Naruto."

Meanwhile, Haku was in turmoil. _Who are these new people? They seem to be allies with the Leaf ninja. Should I take them out?_

"You could try," Matthew says, turning to look at Haku, "but I doubt you would succeed. And yes I can read your mind, and no it's not a trick."

_I've got no choice. I need to strike now!_ Haku thinks before unleashing another storm of senbon.

Naruto covers his face in preparation for the pain, but it does not come. Instead, he feels a hand on his shoulder and he looks up to see Matthew with a hand on his shoulder and smiling encouragingly at him. His other hand was touching Wyatt's, and as Naruto looked around he saw that they were all surrounded by a field of swirling blue and green light. Haku's senbon were striking it, but they simply bounced off.

"What is this?" Haku asked in shock.

"This is my brother and I combining our force-fields together to block your attack," Wyatt explains, smirking at Haku. The Twice-Blessed couldn't see the young ninja's face, but he'd bet it was very shocked.

Sasuke was also in shock. He had just awakened his Sharingan and had seen the speed and force in Haku's attacks and he was pretty sure they could puncture reinforced steel. But here they were, bouncing off of this barrier that Matthew and the other boy had created. He activated his Sharingan again and looked at the barrier that surrounded them. He saw it was made of some energy that was different from chakra. It was purer. Stronger.

Haku was getting desperate. His needles were just bouncing off that bubble. Not to mention that he was running out of them. And speaking of things running out, his chakra was at his limit. Haku reached for another senbon, but found that his pouch was empty.

"Out of ammo?" Matthew asks, raising his hands, "That's a shame. I was having fun."

Matthew's hands snap forward, blowing up the mirror directly in front of them. He proceeds to blow up all of the mirrors in front of them, creating a large hole in the dome.

Haku was left staring in disbelief. _How? No one's ever destroyed one of my mirrors! What is he?_

"I, Haku," Matthew says looking at the mirror he was currently in, "am a witch." And with that, Matthew looked at Wyatt and nodded. Wyatt walked up to the mirrors and threw out his hands. Haku saw the energy coming at him and quickly left the mirrors. As soon as he was clear he watched in horror as all of his mirrors were destroyed. Slowly, he felt his mask break apart and fall off.

Naruto's eyes widened as he realized that it was the same boy that he met in the forest. He stepped forward and shouted, "Hey it's you! The kid from the forest!"

"You've met?" Matthew asked Naruto.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, he found me passed out in the forest when I was training."

"Naruto," Haku says, looking at the jinjuriki, "Please. Kill me."

Naruto looked at him, shocked, and had no idea how to respond. Finally, Naruto walks up and punches Haku in the face. Haku stumbles but does not fall.

"You'll need much more than that," he says, wiping some blood from his mouth.

"Why do you want me to kill you?" Naruto yells, "That's just crazy!"

"I am a broken tool," Haku says, looking down, "I have failed Zabuza and my worth to him is no more. I have no reason to live. Please kill me, quickly."

"Even if that were true," Matthew says, walking toward Haku, "a tool that has been broken can be fixed. But you Haku, you can't be fixed. Because you are a person, not a tool, and people can't be fixed. They need to be…"

Matthew held out his hand, which began glowing a warm yellow color, and held it out to Haku. He then continued, "healed."

Haku looked at Matthew's out-stretched hand for a moment, his face and his mind a turmoil of emotions. Finally, he took a shaky breath and grabbed it. The healing energy spread throughout his body and Haku felt a comforting warmth within himself as his wounds closed and faded. He slowly let go of Matthew's hand and offered the small group a smile.

"It's time to live your own life Haku," Matthew says, grinning back, "You need to be you own person."

Haku nods at Matthew when suddenly, they hear the sound of crackling electricity. The group turns and sees Kakashi holding what looked like a ball of lightning in his hand. He was charging toward Zabuza and was about to end the Mist assassin's life when Matthew's hands flicked and he, Zabuza, and a speeding Haku froze. Sighing, Matthew moved Zabuza and Haku away from Kakashi and then unfroze the three ninja. Kakashi stumbled, before the lightning in his hand disappeared. He turned and looked at Matthew.

"Why did you save him?!" Kakashi demanded, glaring at the young witch.

"I wasn't," Matthew replied, "I was saving Haku."

Before their conversation could go any further, a voice spoke up from the end of the bridge.

"Well Zabuza, it looked like you failed. Pity, now I'll have to kill all of you myself."

Team 7, the Halliwell brothers, Tazuna, Haku, and Zabuza all looked to the source of the voice and saw Gato standing there with what looked like a small army.

"Gato!" Zabuza cried, "What are you doing here?!"

"I came to see how you were doing," Gato says while looking at Tazuna, "but seeing as you failed I guess I have to take matters into my own hands."

Zabuza moved to confront Gato, but was stopped by Matthew.

"Please Zabuza," he said glaring at Gato and his men, "allow us."

Matthew, Wyatt, and Chris walked in front of everyone and stood in the center of the bridge.

"What," Gato says, clearly amused, "you think three kids can stand up to my men? Guess they'll learn the hard way. Get them!"

Roaring, the assembled thugs charge at the three brothers. The Halliwells, however, just close their eyes and begin to chant as one.

"_**The Power of Three will set us free. The Power of Three will set us free. The Power of Three will set us free.**_"

A circle of light forms around the brothers as the thugs continue their charge.

"_**The Power of Three will set us free.**_"

The thugs slowly stopped and doubled over in pain while the Second Charmed Ones continued chanting.

"_**The Power of Three will set us free. The Power of Three will set us free!**_"

With the final shout, the entire mini army Gato brought with him was vanquished, exploding with shouts of fear. Gato looked on in terror as the brothers closed in on him.

"Your turn," Matthew said coldly before once again chanting, "_**Time now for amends and a victim's revenge. You've caused great pain, so you're life-lines we sever. Asshole you are gone forever.**_"

Gato's skin turns a bright red before he explodes into dust.

Matthew lets out a breath of relief, "Finally. It's done."

Walking back over to the ninja, Matthew has to stifle a laugh at the expressions on everyone's faces.

"Y-you just…" Sakura begins.

"Destroyed a horde of thugs…" Naruto continued.

"Without even trying." Sasuke finished.

"Eh," Matthew says shrugging, "We actually probably went a little over-board."

"Regardless," Kakashi says, turning to look at Zabuza, "we still need to figure out what to do with you two."

"Actually Kakashi," Zabuza replies, "I have no quarrel with you now. My employer is dead, so I reap no reward for killing the bridge-builder. Let's go Haku." Zabuza turned and started to leave but spun back around when he noticed that Haku wasn't following him. "Haku?"

"One moment please Zabuza," Haku responds before turning to Matthew and Naruto, "Thank you both. I am forever grateful for what you did for me."

"You don't have to go with him you know," Naruto says with hope in his eyes, "you could come with us."

"I'm sorry but I can't," Haku says with a sad smile, "my place is with Zabuza. And while I'm ready to lead my own life, I can't simply abandon him after all he's done for me."

"Well than the answer is simple," Matthew says before calling to Zabuza, "Hey Zabuza! You wanna move to the Leaf Village?"

There was a collective gasp from the assembled people. Even Zabuza looked a little shocked.

"What?" he asks, completely dumbstruck.

"Matthew!" Kakashi scolds, "You can't just offer a rouge ninja a chance to live in the village!"

"And why not?" Matthew asks, returning Kakashi's glare, "I'm sure the Hokage won't mind having someone who has _intimate_ knowledge of the Land of Water and the Village Hidden in the Mist living in the village. Besides Kakashi, we've been over this. You have no power over me."

Kakashi just stood there, flabbergasted, as Matthew, Wyatt, and Chris orbed everyone back to Tazuna's house.

################################################## ############################

**Three Days Later**

The Bridge was finally done, the celebrations were through, and Team 7's mission was officially over. The team, along with Haku, Zabuza, and the Halliwell boys were preparing to return to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Kakashi had finally accepted the idea of Zabuza and Haku joining the Leaf, around the same time that Zabuza had definitely agreed. Naruto was so happy that he actually hugged both Zabuza and Kakashi.

"Thank you," Tazuna said as he shook hands with Kakashi, "the people of this land are forever in your debt."

Kakashi accepted Tazuna's thanks as well as payment. Naruto, in the meantime, was saying good-bye to Inari. As they were leaving, they heard Inari shout "Believe it!"

Matthew stopped dead in his tracks.

"Oh no," he said, looking very alarmed.

"What is it?" Kakashi said, looking for any threats.

"This is terrible!" Matthew cried, putting everyone on alert.

"Bro! What the hell is it?!" Wyatt yelled, shaking Matthew by the shoulders.

"I-Inari's been infected," he said, confusing everyone, "Naruto! You infected poor little Inari with your stupid catch-phrase!"

Everyone just paused for a moment before laughing and continuing on their way.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Ok, if I owned Naruto and/or Charmed, why would I be writing fanfiction about them? I don't own them.**

**A/N: You guys miss me? I know I missed writing... But as Zankou was so fond of saying, it's good to be back.**

**A/N: Yes, the new cover pic is a drawing of Matthew. Thanks to Bluble, who drew it for me! You rock.**

Team 7, the Halliwell brothers, Haku, and Zabuza had spent 3 days running back to the Leaf Village. Matthew had spent the entire journey trying to convince his brothers to return home, and was slowly making progress.

"You two know that mom will be worried sick when she notices that you guys have been gone for so long," Matthew says as they approach the gate. He was slowly losing patience at Wyatt's stubbornness.

"Why would she?" Wyatt retorts, also losing patience at his twin's attempt to get rid of them, "I mean, she has no problem with you here after you explained everything to her."

"Yeah but see, _I_ told her where I was going and I explained the circumstances to her," Matthew shoots back, "_You_ probably didn't even tell her you were going demon-hunting." Wyatt and Chris looked uncomfortable at this, so Matthew pressed on.

"Oh, you didn't did you?" Matthew says as his face splits into an evil grin that reminded Kakashi of a certain purple-haired snake kunoichi. "Wow, it would be a _shame_ if someone were to tell her about how you went hunting Upper-Level demons, and then followed me to the Elemental Nations."

All color drained from Wyatt's face as he spoke in a hoarse whisper, "Y-you wouldn't dare. That's cruel."

Matthew's smile was colder than Haku's ice as he orbed out. Wyatt just stood there stunned until Chris spoke just two words.

"Run Wyatt"

Wyatt grabbed Chris and orbed faster than even Kakashi's Sharingan could follow. Moments later, Matthew orbed back in laughing so hard tears were coming out of his eyes.

"Oh man, that was priceless!" He said as he calmed down a bit, "Oh he's gonna hate me forever!"

"I don't understand," Zabuza said while looking quizzically at Matthew, "what about your mother is so scary."

Matthew instantly became serious as he looked Zabuza right in the eye.

"Take the woman with the worst temper you know," Matthew said, sounding a little frightened, "and times that bad temper by 50. Now take my power and times _that_ by 50. Combine those two together, and you'll understand why my mother is a force to be frightened of."

All the shinobi looked a little scared before shivering as they continued on their way.

As they entered the gate, they passed through the Sensing Barrier that surrounded the Leaf. When they passed through, 6 blips appeared in the Sensing Ball located at the Barrier Team headquarters. The lead sensor activated his radio and contacted the two guards stationed at the gate.

"Kotetsu, Izumo, there are six people entering the village at your gate. Can you confirm?"

"That's right," Kotetsu says, not really looking. Izumo, however, is.

"Hang on," he says, suddenly on alert, "did you say six? There are seven approaching the gate."

"Stop them!" the lead sensor commanded, "We're sending the interception team to apprehend them!"

Kotetsu and Izumo sprang from their post, rushing at the group and stopping in front of them with kunai drawn.

"What's going on here?" Kakashi demanded at seeing two of his comrades draw weapons on him and his students.

"Sorry Kakashi," Izumo said, "but someone in this group isn't showing up on the sensing barrier. We're to detain you here until the interception team arrives."

Izumo began forming hand-signs, and then spit out a clear, syrupy substance that flowed toward the surprised and slightly angered shinobi. Before it could reach them, however, it was stopped by Matthew's out-stretched hand.

"Yeah, no," Matthew says, holding back the liquid, much to the surprise of Izumo and Kotetsu, "I don't mind waiting, but I do mind having someone spit some slimy, goopy mess at me."

At that moment, the interception squad arrived, consisting of several ANBU and a man who Kakashi recognized as a member of the Hyuga clan. He had his Byakugan activated and was scanning the group.

"No one here is under a transformation," he reported to the captain, "but that one is hiding his chakra levels." He said, pointing to Matthew.

"What?" Matthew said, "No I'm not!"

"You three," the captain said, pointing to Matthew, Zabuza, and Haku, "are coming with us to T&I. The rest of you may proceed into the village."

Zabuza gripped his sword and Haku prepared some senbon, ready to fight. Matthew, however, remained calm.

"Nothing strange happened today," he said while staring intently at the interception team, his eyes glowing gold, "everything has been dull and boring. You were never called out, and you never saw anyone suspicious. Go back to your headquarters."

The interception team had a glazed look in their eyes as they walked back to their headquarters. Matthew then looked at Izumo and Kotetsu and told them the same thing. They also had a glazed look in their eyes as they walked back to their guard station. Matthew's eyes returned to their bluish-green and he let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew, glad that worked," he said, causing the rest of the group to sweat-drop, "I wasn't sure if that would get past their mental shields. Anyway, can we orb? It'd be faster, and we wouldn't make anyone else suspicious of us."

"Alright fine," Kakashi said, finally giving up. Matthew had been pestering to let him orb them since they left the Land of Waves, but Kakashi had said no. He didn't want either him or his students to fall out of shape because Matthew orbed them everywhere. Needless to say, his decision had been complained about almost the whole way here.

Punching the air in victory, Matthew told everyone to hold onto each other and then focused on the Hokage's office within seconds, they found themselves staring at the old man who was looking at "paper-work" and had yet to notice them. He looked up in alarm however, when Kakashi cleared his throat.

"Kakashi, Naruto!" the Third exclaimed as he quickly stashed the orange-covered book he was reading, "How did you get in here?"

"That would be my doing Lord Hokage," Matthew said as he stepped forward. Hiruzen gave the boy a cautious look, remembering the power the boy possessed.

"Ah Matthew," he said, adopting a warm smile, "how good to see you again my boy."

Matthew raised an eye-brow at this but said nothing. Kakashi, however, was confused.

"You two have met before?" he asked, mostly to the Hokage. At their mutual nod, he continued, "When?"

"We met during a certain…incident, involving Naruto," Hiruzen said un-comfortably.

"We met after I saved Naruto from a group of villagers who were planning on killing him when he was 10," Matthew said bluntly. Naruto and Hiruzen winced at this, both remembering the horrible night.

_It wasn't all bad_. Naruto thought. _It was also the night I met Matthew and made my first friend_.

Matthew smiled after picking up Naruto's thoughts before turning back to look at Hiruzen with a curious look on his face.

"By the way," he asked, "whatever happened to those villagers?"

Hiruzen chuckled a little before replying, "Oh them? They were immediately banished from the Leaf Village."

"Forgive me Lord Hokage," Kakashi interrupted, "but I believe we've gotten off track here."

"True," Hiruzen admitted, "please give me your full report."

And so Kakashi told him the story of how Tazuna lied to them, how they fought with Zabuza, Matthew's arrival, the second fight with Zabuza, Matthew and his brothers killing Gato, and finally the return home.

"Very well then," Hiruzen said after the story was finished, "now my only question is this: why are you two here?" He asked, looking at Haku and Zabuza.

"We were hoping to find sanctuary in the Leaf," Zabuza explained, "in exchange for information on the Land of Water and the Village Hidden in the Mist itself."

Hiruzen was torn. He was reluctant to allow an S-ranked missing-nin to live in his village, not to mention one who had such a bloody reputation, but the offer of information was too good to pass up. Finally, he made a decision.

"Alright," he began, "we'll offer you sanctuary in exchange for your information. However, you will be put on probation and any "mess-ups" will result in your execution. You will be ranked jonin and will be partnered with Kakashi. Kakashi, it's your job to keep an eye on him."

Both men inwardly groaned, but nodded at the Hokage. Haku then spoke up.

"What about me?" he asked. Hiruzen wasn't sure what to do with the ice-user until Zabuza spoke up.

"Lord Hokage, while Haku may be a fierce fighter, he doesn't have it in his heart to kill," Zabuza began, "therefore, I recommend him to be trained as a medical ninja. His knowledge of medical herbs is terrific and he knows the human body better than anyone."

"Ok then, if that's what he wants to do," Hiruzen said while looking at Haku. Haku pondered this for a moment before coming to a decision.

"I'll do it."

"Excellent," Hiruzen said before standing up, "I'll just have to call a meeting with the councils to arrange citizenships for you two."

"Um, make that three sir," Matthew said, earning surprised looks from everyone, "What?"

"You want to become a citizen of the Leaf?" Hiruzen asked, slightly shocked. He'd always figured Matthew hated the Leaf Village due to the treatment Naruto had received as a young child.

"Not only that, but I want to be put into the ninja program as well," Matthew said, daring the Hokage to disagree. Hiruzen for his part, was uneasy.

"I don't know if that can be done-" he started to say before being cut off.

"What is it with you people and thinking I care what you think?" Matthew said with ice, "Let me make one thing clear: I pretty much hate almost everyone in this village for their sick treatment of Naruto. I had to stop my family, the most powerful witches in the world, from coming over here and crushing the damn place! Now, the only reason I did that was because Naruto loves it here. My job is to protect him, and if that means I have to put up with these people and become a ninja, then there isn't a force in heaven, earth, or hell that will stop me!"

Everyone was slightly taken aback by Matthew's speech. Naruto had tears in his eyes, but quickly wiped them away. Sasuke was reminded a little of his older brother, before he killed their clan of course. Sakura was thinking of how perfect Sasuke was and was trying to think of a way to get him to go out with her. Kakashi remembering how Matthew had taken out Zabuza with ease, and believed that he could have his family wipe out the Leaf. Zabuza and Haku were nodding in approval. Hiruzen, however, just smiled.

_Well he's certainly got the "big brother" role down_. He thought to himself before addressing Matthew.

"Ok then Matthew," he said rising, "let's go make you a ninja, shall we?"

* * *

Matthew waited for his turn in front of the councils. Zabuza and Haku had gone in first, and from what Matthew was sensing, they were almost done. He was proven right when the two walked out several minutes later.

"Bunch of morons," Zabuza was saying, shaking his head, "think that the world revolves around them."

"How'd it go?" Matthew asked. He caught vague thoughts from the meeting, but the barriers in place had been a pain in the ass to get through.

"We were both cleared as full citizens of the Village Hidden in the Leaves," Haku stated happily, "and we have an assessment tomorrow to see where we place as shinobi in terms of skills. I then have my entrance exam into the medical team academy."

"Cool," Matthew replied, genuinely happy for the two. He had a certain respect for them that didn't exist for anyone else so far in the Elemental Countries, except for Kakashi and _possibly_ the Third Hokage. "Any advice you wanna give before I go in there?"

"The civilian side of the council think themselves _far_ too important," Zabuza cautioned, "they will try to make you feel small or insignificant. Don't let them. The shinobi side is far more rational. If you earn their respect, then you will be fine."

"Be wary of that Danzo fellow though," Haku said in a quiet voice, "I don't trust him. He pushed for both Zabuza and I to be recruited into his ROOT program, whatever that is."

"Alright," Matthew said, "thanks guys."

"Matthew?" The Third said, sticking his head out the door, "We are ready for you."

"Good luck," Haku said as he walked through the door.

The first thing Matthew noticed was the huge arena-like seating of the councils. One side of the room had a banner with the kanji for "Civilian" while the other had a banner with the kanji for "Shinobi". Standing in the center, Matthew could think of only one thing to say.

"Um, hi?"

"State your name boy," one of the civilians commanded.

"Matthew," Matthew replied, not wanting to give his full name, or any other information that he didn't absolutely have to.

"Your full name brat!" another civilian demanded.

Matthew sighed and closed his eyes. He quickly scanned all of the minds in the room and found out that they were using a customary trick. The shinobi side allowed the civilians to bully him a little, and their initial assessment of him would be based on how he reacted to it.

_Smart strategy._ He had to admit, it was seemed very effective. He was snapped out of his thinking when a voice screamed out at him.

"Answer us!" the same civilian as before yelled, almost turning blue in the face.

"I don't think I will," Matthew responded coolly, "Since I have walked into this room you have done nothing but yell and scream at me. I am not a member of this village, so therefore you have no power over me. This meeting was called due to my desire to become a member of this village, but I'm _seriously_ reconsidering that at the moment."

Trying to diffuse the situation, Tsume Inuzuka spoke up.

"Why do you want to become a member and shinobi of this village?" she asked, trying to keep him from antagonizing the civilian council further.

"Mostly out of convenience," Matthew replied, shrugging his shoulders, "I need to be able to protect my charge, and this is the easiest ways to do that and avoid further complications."

"And who would your charge be?" Shikaku Nara asked.

"Simple," Matthew replied, preparing for the backlash he was about to receive, "my charge is the one and only Naruto Uzumaki."

There was a stunned silence for a moment before many of the civilians cried out in outrage.

"Why protect that filth?!"

"Do not speak of the demon here!"

"He obviously deceived you with his demon tricks!"

Matthew became more and more angry as he heard the shouts and accusations fired at him, and the hatred and slander directed at Naruto.

"ENOUGH!" Both he and the Third shouted simultaneously, unleashing a blast of magic and chakra respectively. The civilians instantly quieted down, though they were still sending murderous glances at Matthew.

"This meeting is for the sole purpose of deciding if we should grant Matthew citizenship!" The Third shouted, "What is the ruling?"

There were numerous shouts of "no", "he should be executed", and "hell no", until Matthew spoke up.

"Fine," he said before smirking, "then I'll take my blood-line somewhere else."

This caused a hush to go through both sides until one old man with bandages covering his right eye and his arm in a sling spoke up.

"What bloodline?" he asked, wondering if he should be placed into his ROOT program so that he could be controlled.

"Simple Danzo," Matthew replied, shocking everyone, "the same bloodline keeping Mr. Yamanaka from reading my mind, and the one I used to read all of your minds. Why don't you ask Mr. Hyuga?"

Everyone looked at Hiashi, who scanned the boy with his Byakugan activated. Finally, he spoke in a shocked tone.

"He has no chakra network."

This earned a surprised gasp from both councils. After all, everyone had a chakra network, it was necessary to transport chakra through the body, and you needed chakra to live. Just who was this kid?

"Take a closer look Mr. Hyuga," Matthew encouraged, wanting them to see his _other_ energy.

Hiashi focused and his eyes showed him that this newcomer _did_ have an energy inside him, but it was different to chakra.

"What is this?" he asked Matthew, sending him a puzzling look.

"That ladies and gentlemen," Matthew began, "is my magic. Magic is like chakra except infinitely more powerful. With it, I can do things you people have only dreamed off."

"May we see an example?" Shikaku asked, interested to see what this "magic" could do. After all, all of them had seen cheap magicians use magic to do amazing things, only for it to turn out to be tricks and illusions.

Matthew looked thoughtful for a moment as he pondered which of his powers to show off. Smirking, he raised both of his hands into the air and telekinetically raised all of the assembled into the air. Without warning, he dropped them all, only to freeze the civilian council before they hit their seats. With the shinobi looking at him in awe, Matthew decided for one more push. He blasted the doors leading out of the council room to smithereens, and unfroze the civilian council.

Everyone was silent for a moment as they all thought about the display of power they had just been presented with. Danzo, meanwhile, was trying to influence Matthew to join him with his Sharingan, but it was having no effect.

_Naughty, naughty Danzo_. Danzo heard in his head. He recognized the voice as Matthew's but the boy wasn't even looking at him. _Remember, I don't have a chakra system, so there's no chakra for you to manipulate my brain with. But that doesn't mean I can't sense you trying!_

Danzo paled a little as he realized the child was right. Thinking quickly, he tried to influence the thoughts of the other council members, but found that he was being blocked.

_Yeah, no._ He heard in his head again. This child was starting to annoy him! _I'm not going to let you make these people into your puppets, and I won't let you control me!_ Seeing he was going to have to do this the old fashioned way, Danzo spoke up.

"I believe that he will make a fine addition to the leaf," he began, much to everyone's surprise, "however, I believe that he should be placed in my ROOT program in order to ensure his loyalty."

There were some murmurs of agreement until Hiruzen spoke up.

"No Danzo," he said firmly as he glared at his former team-mate, "he will stay out of your clutches. In order to ensure his loyalty, we must earn his trust, and that is something done best by first trusting him. He will become a normal citizen of the Leaf, and a standard Leaf shinobi. We will have his assessment tomorrow."

"Um, question?" Matthew asked, raising his hand, "May I be on the same team as Naruto? It will make my job easier, and I can look after Sasuke too."

Any protests the civilians were about to make were shot down by that last sentence. They would do anything to protect their precious Uchiha.

"Approved," Hiruzen stated, nodding at the young witch, "Matthew will report to training ground 7 tomorrow, and will be granted full citizenship for the Village Hidden in the Leaves. This meeting is adjourned."

**A/N: I know there wasn't a whole lot of action in this chapter. I apologize for that, but I needed a filler between now and the beginning of the chunin exams. Also, keep an eye out for my next story, Crossing Worlds.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto OR Charmed.**

Matthew smirked as he stood in the middle of training field 7. Today was the day he would be examined to decide whether he would be allowed into the ninja program, and what rank he would be if he passed. Kakashi, Kurenai Yuhi, and Might Gai were standing across from him, as each was a master of nin, gen, and taijutsu respectively.

"Ok Matthew," Kakashi began, "when we say go, come at us with everything you have. Try to last as long as you can."

"Am I allowed to knock you out?" Matthew asked with a devious smile.

Kurenai and Gai scoffed while Kakashi looked a little uneasy.

"You may, but no serious damage please," Kakashi said. At Matthew's nod, Kakashi called out, "BEGIN!"

Matthew was still as Gai and Kakashi flew at him. As they were about to reach him, he orbed to the other side of the training field. Kurenai tried to capture him in a genjutsu, but Matthew's lack of chakra system prevented her from succeeding. Meanwhile, Gai had engaged Matthew in taijutsu, and the young white-lighter was left at the mercy of the taijutsu master's skill. Gai's blows were too fast for Matthew to keep up with, and he couldn't focus enough to use one of his powers. Finally, a hard kick sent Matthew flying where he landed on the ground in a crumpled heap. Gai started to walk away, and didn't see Matthew out-stretched hand that sent him zooming into the trees. Slowly, he got up and threw out his force-field while he caught his breath.

Kurenai kept trying to capture the boy in her genjutsu and was growing frustrated at her lack of success. Her attempts were cut short, however, when her vision went black and her hearing was cut off.

"Release!" she shouted, forming a hand-seal. When her vision didn't return, she tried biting her lip to release the illusion. All that got her was a bloody lip.

_What kind of genjutsu is this?_ She thought a bit fearfully.

"Who said anything about a genjutsu?"

Kurenai stopped as she heard the voice. It was a voice so cold, so dark, she could only think of one word to describe it.

Evil.

And with that, she fell unconscious.

Back outside, Matthew was looking at her with a worried expression.

_I hope that wasn't too hard_. He thought, remembering the time he had accidentally driven a demon insane.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was observing Matthew's progress. Gai had given the boy a beating with his amazing speed, but was still picking himself up from the telekinetic throw. Kurenai had been focusing on a genjutsu before she suddenly just screamed and collapsed. Matthew was now staring at Kakashi with a wary eye.

"You look a little winded Matthew," Kakashi teased as he watched Matthew clutch his shoulder. He had bruises on his arms and probably on his chest, and was bleeding from his mouth a little.

"Shut up," Matthew growled out. His body hurt like hell, but in truth, it was his ego that had suffered the most damage. When he had arrived here, he had been able to take on people like Zabuza and Haku, but the man in green spandex had surprised him with his extremely fast taijutsu. Aunt Phoebe had coached him and his brothers in some martial arts, but he wasn't even close to this guy's level. He blamed himself, he had allowed himself to become arrogant in his abilities and not expect much power from these people.

While Matthew and Kakashi had been talking, Gai had gotten up and threw a storm of kunai and shuriken at Matthew. Noticing this, Matthew spun around and froze them mid-flight, much to the surprise of Gai. His surprise was compounded when Matthew blew them all up. It was the last thing he saw before Matthew's psychic blast knocked him out.

"You wanna try Kakashi?" Matthew asks with a playful smile. Instead of answering, Kakashi lifts his headband up and reveals his Sharingan, surprising Matthew. Realizing that Kakashi is serious, Matthew's smile is replaced with a frown of concentration. Matthew's hands begin to rise, but Kakashi's Sharingan caught the movement the moment his arm muscles twitched, causing Kakashi to have already leapt to the side by the time Matthew's hands were halfway raised. Kakashi shot forward, but Matthew orbed away.

"Well this should be fun," Matthew smirks, trying to lighten the mood.

Kakashi didn't reply, earning a frown from Matthew.

"Oh come _on_ Kakashi!" Matthew whined, "Lighten up would you?"

Instead of answering, Kakashi formed hand-signs and shot a ball of fire, which Matthew telekinetically threw back. Kakashi used the brief distraction in Matthew's attention to deliver a kick to Matthew's face that sent him flying into the trees. Kakashi was waiting for Matthew to walk out, but was surprised when Matthew orbed behind him and swept his legs out from underneath him. Kakashi used the momentum to roll away and formed more hand-signs. He tried using Lightning Beast Running Jutsu, but Matthew just blasted the chakra animal. He proceeded to freeze Kakashi, but he went up in a puff of smoke, revealing him to be a Shadow Clone. Matthew sensed for Kakashi's thoughts, and orbed away just before Kakashi's hand shot out of the earth where his leg was a few seconds ago. Matthew was beginning to get tired from all of the orbing, as well as his injuries, and was caught by Kakashi as a result. Kakashi had his hands coated in chakra to prevent Matthew from orbing out of his grasp, but Matthew's head slumped forward and a second Matthew appeared behind Kakashi and blasted him. This Kakashi also went up in smoke, so Matthew returned to his body. Another Kakashi stood in front of Matthew and Matthew could tell from his thoughts that this was the real Kakashi. Both of them were panting slightly, one from chakra drain and the other from too much orbing and several bruised ribs.

Kakashi knew that he was beginning to reach his limit, especially with his Sharingan activated. His left hand was suddenly covered in lightning and he charged forward.

"Lightning Blade!" he shouted as he neared his target, Matthew's left shoulder. Matthew, however, smirked as he saw his chance. His hands snapped forward, and Kakashi froze. Walking over, Matthew unfroze his head.

"I think we're done here," he said. Kakashi nodded and Matthew unfroze him.

"I'll report to the Hokage and we'll give you the decision tomorrow," Kakashi said as he walked off.

Matthew let out a breath of relief as he orbed to Naruto's, and now his, shared apartment. He appeared in the kitchen and collapsed onto his bed, utterly exhausted.

* * *

Meanwhile, Naruto, Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon had the unfortunate luck of making fun of Sakura and were currently running for their lives. The author, in the meantime, is wondering why Sakura is never this scary or violent when it could actually be useful.

Konohamaru wasn't paying attention to where he was going and winded up crashing into someone. He fell to the ground and looked up at the person he had run into. He was wearing a black body-suit with what looked like cat ears. There was a half-orange, half-purple circle on his chest as well as a wrapped bundle on his back. Suddenly, the man picked him up by his shirt and drove his knuckles into the boy's neck.

"Hey! Put down Konohamaru!" Naruto shouted as they approached.

"Put him down Kankuro," said the woman standing next to him. She had green eyes and blonde hair bound in four ponytails, and was wearing a light purple dress, with a fishnet suit underneath. The most peculiar thing, however, was the large fan strapped to her back.

"I'm sorry," Sakura said, having calmed down, "the whole thing was my fault."

_Who are they?_ She wondered, not being able to remember ever seeing them in the village.

"Take your hands off of him right now!" Naruto yelled at them, anger rising in his chest.

"Oh come on Temari, we've got a few minutes before _he_ gets here; let's mess with these punks," the man now identified as Kankuro said, tightening his grip on Konohamaru.

"Put him DOWN!" Naruto shouted, rushing at Kankuro. Kankuro merely smiled, before moving his hand and causing Naruto to trip and fall.

"First I'll take care of this runt, then I'll waste the other," Kankuro said as he pulled back his fist. Before he could punch Konohamaru, his hand was hit with a stone, causing him to drop the ten-year old. Everyone looked up to where the rock was thrown from to see Sasuke sitting in the tree above them.

"You're a long way from home," he noted.

"Well well, another wimp to tick me off," Kankuro said arrogantly. Sasuke get eyed him coldly.

"Get lost," he said, crushing another stone with his hand.

Kankuro had an angry look on his face, and began unraveling the bundle strapped to his back.

"You're going to use the Crow for _this_?" Temari asked is sheer disbelief. Kankuro said nothing, and continued to unravel his bundle until a cold voice stopped him.

"Back off Kankuro"

Everyone gasped and saw another boy standing on the tree branch behind Sasuke.

"You're an embarrassment to our village," he said simply, staring at Kankuro.

"H-hey Gaara," Kankuro said carefully and little… fearfully?

"Have you forgotten the reason we're here?" Gaara asked.

"O-of course not. I-I mean, they challenged us, they started it," Kankuro explained quickly.

"Shut up," Gaara said without a trace of emotion, "or I'll kill you."

"R-right," Kankuro said, holding his hands up in a peaceful manner.

Gaara turned to the Leaf genin before speaking, "I'm sorry for any trouble he may have caused."

_This guy has an evil look in his eye_. Sasuke said, noticing the dark look in the newcomer's eyes.

His examining was cut short when a red flash appeared next to Naruto. When the light faded, it showed Matthew looking around confused.

"What the?" He said as he looked around, before hanging his head and muttering, "Stupid astral dreams…"

"Um Matthew?" Naruto asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Dreaming," the witch replied. Noticing everyone's confused looks he explained, "I'm still asleep back home, but my spirit has left my body to come here. It happens. Who're they?" He asked looking at the trio.

Instead of answering, Gaara disappeared into a vortex of sand and reappeared in front of Kankuro and Temari

"Let's go, we didn't come here to play games," he said as he started walking away, the other two following close behind him.

"Hey wait!" Sakura yelled, stepping forward.

"What?" Temari replied, clearly annoyed.

"I can tell from your headbands that you're from the Village Hidden in the Sand," she explains before demanding, "Why are you here? No shinobi can enter another's village without permission."

"What are you, stupid? Don't you know what's going on?" Temari mocked, "And we do have permission. We're here for the Chunin Exams."

"The chunin exams?" Naruto asks, looking confused, "What's that?"

"It's an exam you have to take to advance to being a chunin-level ninja," Matthew explains.

Gaara, in the meantime, was looking at Matthew and Sasuke with interest.

_The first one made Kankuro drop the kid with just a pebble, and the other one appeared out of thin air. Also, Shukaku senses something different about him._ Gaara thinks before pointing at the two of them.

"What are your names?" He asks.

"I am Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke said with a smirk.

"My name's Matthew Halliwell," Matthew responded, crossing his arms and frowning at the red-head.

Gaara nodded at the two, before he and his team-mates disappeared in a swirl of sand.

"Show off," Matthew said as he watched the dissipating sand.

"Oh and your orbing isn't?!" Naruto demanded.

"Oh, shut up," Matthew said before closing his eyes and sighing, trying to tune out Naruto's yelling, "Ok that's it!"

Matthew flicked his hands, trying to freeze Naruto, but to the surprise of Team 7, nothing happened. Matthew however, cursed under his breath.

"Crap, that's right," he groaned, "powers don't work while astral projecting."

Naruto started yelling even louder, both at him and Sasuke until Matthew just put his hands to his ears and disappeared back to his body.

* * *

At the same time, the Third Hokage was holding a meeting with his current jonin to determine who the candidates for the chunin exams would be. He smiled to himself when he heard all three of the new teams had been nominated. Someone else, however, was not as happy.

"Wait just a moment!" Iruka exclaimed, getting the attention of everyone in the room.

"Yes Iruka?" the Third asked him, knowing where this was going.

"Lord Hokage," he began, "I knew those nine students back at the academy, they were all my students. And while yes, they showed great promise, they're not ready. They need more training."

"When I became a chunin I was six years younger than Naruto is now," Kakashi pointed out. Iruka, however, was having none of it.

"NARUTO WAS NOTHING LIKE YOU!" he shouted angrily, "Are you trying to destroy him?!"

"Well," Kakashi said in a thoughtful voice, "they're always complaining about not being challenged enough, maybe wiping out on the exams will be good for them. A little pain is good."

"What did you say?" Iruka yelled, getting madder by the second.

"Nothing fatal, of course," Kakashi admitted, "but, really Iruka, relax. I understand how you feel, this is very personal for you, and you're upset."

"Stop Kakashi," Kurenai said, "I think you've said enough."

"I don't think so," Kakashi disputed, "I think Iruka needs to hear this. He needs to realize they're not his students anymore, they're _mine_."

"But these exams could destroy them, you know that!" Iruka argued back.

"Enough Iruka, you've made your case," the Hokage said firmly, "and I think the best thing to do would be to hold a special preliminary test."

Iruka looked troubled, but nodded his head. Kakashi, however, was shaking his head.

"That won't be necessary Lord Hokage, because I think you've forgotten one major detail," Kakashi said, causing the Hokage to go wide-eyed.

"And what would that be Kakashi?" Iruka demanded to know.

Kakashi was silent before he answered, "They'll have Matthew with them."

Iruka and the rest of the jonin looked confused except for Kurenai and Gai.

"You mean…" Kurenai began before Kakashi interrupted her.

"Yes, that boy we were evaluating earlier today is to be placed on Team 7," he said.

"The kid that took us all out by himself?" Gai asked, wanting to make sure.

"That's the one," Kakashi nodded, before turning to Iruka, "Does that make it any better? Having a kid who was able to beat Gai, Kurenai, and me on the same team as Naruto? A kid who would never let _anything_ happen to him?"

Iruka looked stunned, but nodded anyway.

"Good then! I'll let them know tomorrow morning!" Kakashi said as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

**The next morning**

"Argh! He's late again!" Naruto shouted.

"It's not fair," Sakura agrees, "he sets the time and then we have to wait hours."

"I didn't even have time to brush my teeth or change my underwear!" exclaimed Naruto. Unfortunately, Matthew chose that time to orb in and only heard the last sentence.

"Dude," he says with a disgusted look, "there's this thing called personal hygiene. Try it."

Naruto looked ashamed, but his face brightened with curiosity when he saw Matthew's new clothes. He was wearing an open full-length blue coat with a green triquetra on the back, and had green flames along the bottom. Underneath was a grey tee-shirt with what looked like a blue box on it, and a pair of tan cargo shorts with a kunai holster strapped to his leg. The biggest change, however, was the Leaf head-band tied securely around his forehead.

"What's with the new clothes?" Naruto asked, cocking his head to one side.

"Oh these? They're just some new clothes I picked up this morning," Matthew answered, "My old ones were getting worn, and I wanted something from the village to feel more at home. The coat was _really_ expensive; the shop owner said something about the Fourth Hokage wearing one like it."

"Where'd you get the money to pay for it?" Sakura asked. After all, Matthew hadn't officially done any missions and thus, had no money.

"Who said anything about paying for it?" Matthew asked with a surprised expression, "Telepath, remember? That shop owner _thinks_ I paid for it, and isn't that what matters?"

Sakura frowned, but said nothing. Sasuke, however, had another question.

"How did you get that head-band?" he asked suspiciously, "Only shinobi of the village are allowed to have those."

"Well according to the papers delivered to me this morning signed by the old man, I am a shinobi of this village," Matthew said as he held up the papers, "Not only that, but I'm also your new team-mate."

At that moment, Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke in front of the group.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto and Sakura screamed as they pointed accusing fingers at Kakashi.

"I'm sorry," the masked ninja said while smiling at them, "but I got lost on the Road of Life."

"You liar!" they both shouted at the same time.

"Oh good lord," Matthew muttered, "I knew I should've brought that aspirin I have stashed at home with me."

"This may seem a little sudden," Kakashi said, becoming serious, "but I recommended all four of you for the chunin exams. Here are the application forms."

He handed each of them a form that they each briefly read over before looking up as he continued to speak.

"This is totally voluntary," Kakashi explained, "if you don't feel ready, you can wait until next year."

"ALRIGHT!" Naruto shouted, running forward and leaping on top of Kakashi, "Kakashi-sensei you rock!"

"Get off me," Kakashi said in a bored tone, putting Naruto down. "Whoever wants to take the exam, sign the form and come to room 301 in five days."

And with that, Kakashi poofed away.

* * *

**Five days later**

The new Team 7 was walking along the second floor of the Academy when they spotted a large crowd in front of a door with a sign that read "301". Two ninja were blocking the doorway and refused to let anyone through.

"How can you wimps hope to get through the chunin exams if you can't even beat us?" One of them sneered.

Matthew noticed what they were doing and was trying to get his team-mates to walk quietly up the stairs, but Sasuke decided to walk right up to them and expose the genjutsu they were using to change the door-sign.

"Idiot," he muttered, unable to believe how foolish the Uchiha was being.

"You moron!" Matthew yelled at him when Sasuke walked back over, "Now we have more enemies to fight!"

"It doesn't matter, I'll crush them all anyway," Sasuke said as he started walking away. Matthew shook his head.

"We really need to work on his ego," he said to Naruto and Sakura began to follow him. However, before they could the ninja from before went to send a kick at Sasuke's back. Sasuke spun and was ready to counter but before he could his assailant stopped moving. Everyone turned to see Matthew holding his hand up.

"Now that's just rude," Matthew said as he turned the frozen ninja around and then unfroze him. His kick hit empty air and he looked in surprise to see Matthew smiling and waving at him. Wordlessly, he and his friend disappeared in columns of smoke. Matthew sighed and walked up the stairs, quickly followed by his team-mates. They were walking through what looked like a practice arena when a voice called out to them.

"Hey you, hold on!"

They turned around to see a kid in a green-spandex suit and a bowel-type haircut.

"What do you want?" asked Sasuke, clearly annoyed.

"I want to fight you," he said in a determined voice as he pointed at Sasuke, "right here, right now!"

"Here and now huh?" Sasuke with a slight smirk.

"Yes," he continued before pointing to himself, "my name is Rock Lee!"

"Wait!" Matthew called out, causing everyone to look at him, "Are you by any chance related to a _Bruce_ Lee?"

Everyone just looked at him with "confusion" written all over their faces.

"Who?" Rock Lee asked, causing Matthew to almost faint.

"Do none of you know who he is?" Matthew asked with a horrified expression. When everyone shook their head he said, "Ok, as soon as this is over, I'm taking you to see one of his movies."

Lee looked at the strange boy for a moment before returning to look at Sasuke.

"Everyone talks about the great Uchiha clan," Lee explained to Sasuke, "I would like to see its power for myself! And also…"

He drifted off before shouting,

"Sakura! I love you! And I will do anything to win your love! Let me prove myself to you right now!"

Sakura screamed, Naruto looked a little angry, and Matthew just burst out laughing.

"Fine then," Sasuke said as he charged at Lee, who just stood there waiting for Sasuke's attack. As Sasuke threw a punch, Lee vanished. He reappeared right above Sasuke.

"Leaf Hurricane!" he called out as he spun in the air and kicked at Sasuke. Sasuke was able to dodge, but Lee's next attack caught him off guard. He tried blocking, but the attack went right threw it. Sasuke was sent flying back and landed on the floor. He didn't move for a minute, but then got back up. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, the irises were red and he had tomoe around each pupil.

"Sharingan!" He called out before rushing Lee again. Sakura started cheering, convinced that Sasuke would win now, but was left in shock when Lee continued to out-maneuver Sasuke. Lee pummeled Sasuke for two minutes before an upward kick sent Sasuke into the air. He appeared behind the shocked Uchiha, and untied the bandages around his arms. They began to tie around Sasuke before two things happened at once. First, Sasuke disappeared in a flurry of orbs and re-appeared on the floor in front of Matthew, who began to heal him. Second, two pin-wheels flew out and pinned Lee's bandages to the wall.

"That's enough Lee!"

Everyone turned and saw a red turtle looking at Lee with an angry expression.

"You were planning on using a forbidden jutsu?!" the turtle asked, scowling at the boy.

"I am sorry," Lee apologized, sounding a little scared of the turtle.

"I hope you're ready for your punishment," the turtle warned. At Lee's nod, he called out, "Come out Gai-sensei!"

A plume of smoke appeared on top of the turtle, which cleared to reveal a man in green spandex.

"Hey everybody! Life treating you good?" he asked as he struck a pose. Team 7 had one thought going through their minds.

_His eyebrows are huge!_ Was their collective thought as they watched the man punch Lee and berate him for using a forbidden technique. They were surprised however, when they saw the two of them hug and walk off together.

"This place never ceases to amaze me," Matthew chuckled before noticing that Gai had stopped and was staring at him.

"You. You're the kid who beat Kakashi, Kurenai, and I," he said with an interested look. The rest of the genin were gaping at Matthew like he was some sort of god.

"Y-you beat three Jonin? How?" Sasuke asked in awe of the news. Matthew wasn't looking at him though, he was staring at Gai.

"In all fairness, they weren't trying their hardest, and Kurenai's genjutsu wouldn't work on me," Matthew explained. Gai was new looking at the rest of Team 7 with equal interest.

"You must be Kakashi's squad," he said, earning gasps from the genin.

"How did you know that?" Naruto asked.

"He and I are arch-rivals," Gai said simply, to the disbelief of Team 7. However, he vanished a second later and appeared behind them.

"My record with Kakashi is 50 wins and 49 loses," Gai said proudly, earning gob-smacked looks from them.

"How'd you beat Kakashi?" Naruto asked a little fearfully.

"Because I'm stronger and faster than him," Gai said with a devious smirk.

_So it's true. He was holding back._ Matthew thought. Kakashi told him that the jonin hadn't taken him seriously, and now he could see that clearly.

"Anyway, good luck on your exams," Gai said as he teleported out in a puff of smoke. Lee was quick to follow, walking out of the room towards the exam admit room. Not wanting to be left behind, Team 7 walked out as well.

They were almost to the classroom when Naruto looked at Matthew.

"Hey Matthew?" he asked, causing the older boy to stop and look at him, "Why didn't you step in and kick Lee's butt like you usually do?"

Matthew looked startled for a second before he smiled sadly.

"Because I knew I would lose," he said, shocking Naruto and the other genin.

"But you never lose!" Naruto protested. He had seen Matthew take on people that even Kakashi-sensei had trouble with, without even breaking a sweat!

"Naruto," Matthew explained, "I fought Gai-sensei for my shinobi test to determine whether I would be a ninja of this village, and he beat the crap out of me while holding back. Lee, as we just saw, has trouble holding back, and would've beaten me for the same reason he beat Sasuke. He's too fast for me to keep up with, so my powers are next to useless against him. But don't worry about it okay?"

Naruto just stared at Matthew for a moment before nodding his head. Matthew patted him on the back, and they continued walking toward the door.

They were almost there before Kakashi appeared in front of them.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura exclaimed, startled by his sudden appearance.

"I'm glad you all decided to come," Kakashi said in a serious, but happy voice, "I'm proud of each of you. Sakura, Naruto, Matthew, and Sasuke. I couldn't have asked for a better team."

The genin smiled at their teacher and walked into the room. Kakashi put a hand out and stopped Matthew for a second.

"Protect them," was all he said to the witch before vanishing.

"Of course," Matthew said to no one as he joined his teammates for their next adventure.

**A/N: Aaaand, done! Thanks to everyone who reads this, and I'm sorry for the long wait. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Anyone know what the box on Matthew's tee-shirt was?**


End file.
